Here we go again
by cmsice
Summary: When it comes to love, you sometimes need a little push from fate ... or nosy friends and family? Soujiroh and Yuki will learn that on their own skin. Find out how.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Hana Yori Dango or any of its characters ... oh, and of course the nicely words of wisdom from the introduction were humbly borrowed from "Pride and Prejudice" which is not ours either but Jane Austen's.

**Author's notes:** Hello, there! We should probably first inform you that it's an AU fanfic so you might find some characters that do not appear in the original story. They are our creations and we hope you will like them as much as we do. So without further ado, we wish you a pleasant reading.

Signed: Kriseis and Zaza :)

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It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single, twenty-something-years-old, rich, womanizer, egocentric, narcissistic man will, at some point in his life, have to put up with his family's attempts to organize and "improve" said life. With only the best intention in mind, they will fuss and agitate themselves over every aspect of the young man's life, criticizing this, implying that, nagging all the time, but with very little success. 

Just as true is the fact that a single, twenty-something-years-old, poor, innocent, dreamy, kind woman will, at some point in her life, lose all hopes of getting the said man. It will take some time of course …oh, let's say five years of restlessly chasing such an incurable bachelor before the rupture finally happens. It is very unlikely that after giving up all hopes, the girl will ever reconsider.


	2. Chapter 1

"_Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men's blood."_

D.B.HUDSON

Once upon a time, there were two very good friends, Nishikado Shigure and Takashimizu Takeshi. They had first met as kids and had been inseparable ever since. The responsibilities put on their shoulders were just a little part of what they had in common. They were both the single heirs of their wealthy families and as such they were expected to behave in a certain manner. Our two characters though, rather than obeying the rules, decided to make their own. As children they skipped school and went in search of adventures in town, and after growing up, they chose the same lifestyle, that of the adventure, but this time with women. The sole constant in their lives had been this friendship and they couldn't have been closer if they had been brothers: helping each other in critical situations, comforting one another, making trouble and solving problems together. The one thing they could wish for was to strengthen the bond between them by uniting their families, and they planned to do this the usual way: through an arranged marriage, of course. Fate decided otherwise though, and played a trick on them by giving them both as offspring two precious sons. So they decided to put this "little" dream of theirs on hold for their future grandchildren, God willing!

In present days they still hold on to the hope that some day their families will be united. Takeshi is a respected widower with a passion for coffee cups. After his much beloved wife's death – his only true love – he retired from the chairman position in his company, leaving Tokyo in favor of the smaller, much more tranquil Nikko. There he spent many days surrounded by memories of his wife, Kinu, till he reached the conclusion that, although he will always love her, life is too short not to enjoy it. And so he returned to his old habit of courting attractive, stylish and now younger ladies.

Sitting in his stone garden, Takeshi was suddenly interrupted by his butler:

"Takashimizu-sama, I regret to disturb you with such trivial things, but there is a tea cup placed in the collection of coffee cups. I wanted to remove it right away but one of the maids informed me that it was you who put it there, sir."

"Oh no, Hisoka. That tea cup deserves a special place. Please leave it as it is. It is a present from my adorable Yuki-chan."

"As the master wishes. Please accept my deepest apologies for my ignorance."

"No harm done. You may go now."

The butler, one of the eldest servants in the Takashimizu household, bowed politely and retired from the garden, leaving his master contemplating in silence.

Takeshi's one regret was that he did not have his grandchildren by his side. The eldest, Shinichi, was always away on business like his father. And his granddaughter, Yuki, had been taken away from him when his son had divorced. He consented on Yuki living with her mother because he had realized the girl's need to be raised under a female guidance. Kagura was a proud, stubborn woman though, and she rarely accepted the financial help offered by him or Kazuo. Because of some reason unknown to Takeshi, Kagura had chosen to keep Yuki away from the social circles of the family, judging that it was best for Yuki to live a normal life, without the luxuries that her grandfather intended to give to his beloved granddaughter.

**xxx **

"The Matsuda Enterprise has merged with the prestigious Nishihara Financial Group. The CEO of the Matsushima Company stated that now is one of the most suitable times to start negotiations with the West European giants."

The economic column of the daily paper was, as always, devoured by Shigure Nishikado in the comfort and silence of his study. Of course this silence could not last forever, a good thing never does. A sudden tap on the door announced that his tranquility would inevitably be disrupted by his lovely, but really energetic wife, who was far more informative than the newspaper in front of him. A nice little woman's head peeked from behind the door:

"Honey, I brought you a lovely plate of assorted fruits. I cut them myself. See how perfectly arranged they are?"

"Thank you, sweetheart. Please leave them on the desk."

Mrs. Nishikado did as she was told and then took a seat in front of her husband's desk, being careful not to wrinkle her elegant dress. She waited patiently in silence for almost five minutes, for her husband to finish what he was doing. Seeing that after such an immense amount of time she was still being ignored, she first tapped softly her fingers on the precious mahogany desk (picked by her). Afterwards followed the tapping of the foot intermingled with small, ladylike coughing.

Noticing his wife's sure signals that she had something to say, Shigure raised his head from the newspaper, took off his glasses and asked:

"What is it, sweetheart? Do you have something else to tell me?"

As he said this, he mentally prepared himself for the storm of words that would surely follow.

"As a matter of fact, I do. I've been on the phone all morning with our daughter-in-law and the news she gave me was simply devastating. I'm telling you, your grandson will be the end of me. Apparently, his official girlfriend found him in a nightclub surrounded by an army of women, partying like he doesn't have a care in the world."

"What official girlfriend? They have been together for only two days!"

"Exactly my point. Why can't your grandson keep a steady relationship? Isn't it enough that our first grandson has run away, God knows where, does this one have to be a womanizer? I'm telling you this family is cursed. Someone up there hates me."

"But sweetheart…"

"I'm not done yet. Look at the Domyouji heir! He's been engaged for more than four years now. He will get married this fall. Granted, to a low-class plebeian, but still, she has a promising career as a lawyer in front of her. And how about Hanazawa Rui? He keeps traveling to Europe, he must have a rich, aristocratic, European fiancée whom he keeps visiting. European! Can you imagine?" and after a pause: "Do you know whose fault it is that my grandson isn't settling down? Mimasaka Akira's of course! He is the one who drags my poor innocent Soujiroh to all those filthy nightclubs. I've told you a million times before, he is a bad influence on our grandson."

"They have been friends since childhood. Do you know how hard it is to find a loyal friend?"

"Of course you take his side! They remind you of Takeshi and you when you were young. But you have been lucky, you found such adorable wives as Kinu and me. Although he meets plenty of women suitable to become his wife, Soujiroh seems to ignore them and drive these poor creatures away. It is time to take the matter into our own hands. We can't allow the Nishikado heir to remain a bachelor forever."

Taking advantage of the fact that his wife stopped the verbal assault in order to breath, Shigure said:

"It is alright sweetheart, I already got the answer to all of your problems. But first there is a small moving matter to be arranged."

His wife, who was just biting on a piece of pear, remained motionless, starring at her husband with big, childlike eyes.

"Moving? …but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Don't bother that pretty little head of yours. Go make the necessary arrangements. We are going to visit Takeshi. There is a property near his I want to buy."

"A new house! How wonderful!" exclaimed Mrs. Nishikado with sparkling eyes. "But Shigure, I still don't understand how is that going to solve anything."

"Patience, dear…patience. Don't you want to go see the house first?"

"I would love to decorate a new house. I've been feeling very creative lately. And I'm bored with Tokyo's high society anyway. All those gossiping ladies who secretly envy me for my beauty and energy! This project will keep me busy for weeks."

Mrs. Nishikado was a very efficient lady when given clear and precise instructions. So that, by the end of the day, not only had they arrived in Nikko, but also visited the mansion, decided to buy it and now, while Mrs. Nishikado was invoking her muses to help her envision their future home, Mr. Nisikado was enjoying the evening with his old friend, Takeshi.

"I thought that I was going to have the opportunity to see your lovely wife as well. Hasn't she accompanied you?"

"Of course she did. You know I can't bear to travel without Madoka. And you'll surely get to see her. We decided to buy the house and we're going to be neighbors. She is still at the mansion trying to figure out how she will decorate it."

"Such wonderful news! Let's celebrate! Have another sake!"

A few sakes later, a slightly dizzy Shigure and Takeshi were going down memory lane. One thing led to another and it wasn't long before they remembered their old dreams:

"We're not getting any younger, Takeshi. If we want to finally unite our families, now is the time to act."

"Madoka's still nagging you about your grandson, huh?"

"Did she ever stop? Apparently Soujiroh is something of a Don Juan."

"Like they say, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

"Yes, but even I am a little worried about him. I hate to agree with Madoka, but it is about time my grandson had a good woman by his side. And to be honest, I don't want to die without seeing our dream come true. It's only your fault it hasn't already."

"Mine? How is it my fault?"

"Of course we can't bring our grandchildren together if you have such a cold relationship with Yuki. How many times have you seen her in all these years since Kazuo's divorce?"

"Not as often as I should have, I admit, but I wouldn't call our relationship cold. My Yuki-chan is a sweet girl, she writes regularly to me and she even sent me a beautiful tea cup for my birthday. Not even my son remembered my birthday. Besides, it's not only my fault. Is not that your grandson is very keen on marrying."

"Alright, so maybe the both of us erred. But it's time to set things right. We can't afford to wait anymore."

"I've spent much time thinking about this, and I already have a plan. It might not work but I think we might at least try it. Want to hear it?"

"You know I do. Go right ahead."

* * *

The grandparents are up to something ... curious? Don't worry you'll find out soon. 

Many of you must have noticed Nishikado Madoka's slightly resemblance with another fictional character from "Pride and Prejudice". It was not our intention, but this is how she came out, probably the result of a whole semester on Jane Austen. lol

Please review. We are anxious to know our readers' and fellow HYD fans' thoughts.

Until next time: Bye, bye!


	3. Chapter 2

Hallo! First and foremost we would like to thank all of those who reviewed, we really appreciate it. We hope that you'll continue to share your impressions and ideas about the story. Please enjoy the reading!

Kriseis and Zaza

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"_Good friends are good for your health_." 

Irwin Sarason

Makino Tsukushi was returning from her monthly meeting with Kaede Domyouji. Ah, that woman, would she ever let her be? But they made a deal and Tsukushi had to respect it. She had to become the perfect wife for the Domiouji heir and that implied taking all the etiquette classes ever invented by these pompous, stuck-up people. The last thing she wanted to do was to agree with Kaede but deep down she had to admit that entering Tsukasa's world would require that as well. Every month Kaede took some time from her always busy schedule to see/evaluate the progress of her future daughter-in-law. She was a very rigorous person and she did not admit the slightest flaw.

"Oh, Domyouji Tsukasa, I hope you deserve all the effort I put in for you!" Tsukushi sighed.

There was nothing to complain about her relationship with Tsukasa. Things were going great. Maybe a little too well for her taste…what was she saying? She should be happy that things were finally going on the right track. They were going to get married. What could be more wonderful than that? Was she masochistic or something to have nostalgic feelings for the days when they had to fight for their love? The two of them went through enough hardship together to last for a lifetime. That evaluation with Kaede must have disturbed her mind. She loved Tsukasa and she knew that he loved her. Thinking about Tsukasa brought a bright smile on her face, attracting curious looks from the passers by. Domyouji and her still had their random fights over the most trivial things, but she found that it was exactly that the salt and pepper of their relationship. It would be too boring if things would go smoothly… Deep in thoughts, Tsukushi hardly noticed that she was being called:

"Tsukushi, Tsukushi, wait up!" a cheerful voice was heard from behind.

She turned around and saw a radiant Yuki, happier than she had been in the last few months, running towards her.

"Oh, hi Yuki! Take it easy, why were you running like that?"

"Well, I've been calling you for some time now, but you seemed too lost in thoughts. What's the matter? Another Kaede session?"

"Yeah, that woman is going to finish me up before I get to marry her son. Ugh…how I hate those damned classes! I'd rather learn all the articles of the constitutions of fifty different countries ten do these all over again…"

"Hang in there, Tsukushi. You're not going to get beat down by some stupid etiquette classes. You took them all these years, you can resist a few more months. And besides, it will be over soon. And you'll have the satisfaction of the victory. Come on, let's grab a cup of coffee and you can tell me all about it. Coffee always makes you feel better."

Thirty minutes later, seated at one of the table of a small coffee shop, Tsukushi was still going on about her lessons with Kaede to Yuki's the mild exasperation, who had heard it all before.

"…what's the use of knowing how to play the piano, how to correctly cross your legs or step out of a car in a ladylike fashion? I'm serious, she wants to drive me crazy!"

"Oh my God!" exclaimed Yuki, faking horror. "You are right. She wants to drive you crazy, lock you in a mental house and marry Tsukasa with whomever she chooses."

"Ha, ha, Yuki, very funny. Easy for you to say, you don't have to put up with her. And what's with you? You're incredibly happy today. What's with all those shopping bags?"

"Oh, my grandfather is coming to visit us tomorrow. I'll bake him his favorite cake with coffee-cream filling. And he said he wants to invite us to have dinner with him, so I bought a dress for the occasion…and…uhm…look at this coffee cup I bought especially for him. Isn't it pretty?" asked a smiling Yuki, showing Tsukushi a buttery-yellow cup with little beans of coffee around its edge.

"That's great, Yuki, you'll finally have the chance to see him after such a long time! How come he's the one visiting? In the past you were always the one doing the visits."

"Have no idea. It is a little odd, isn't it? Oh well, I'd rather not think about it, I'm just happy he's coming. And besides…"

But Yuki didn't get to finish her sentence because of a familiar ring tone, the theme song of a famous movie about a short, all dressed in black character, who had problems breathing.

"Yo, Makino, are you home yet? We're coming to get you in thirty minutes."

"Of course I'm not home yet. And I need more than half an hour. I still have to get home, take a shower, grab something to eat, find something to wear…"

"Well, hurry up and get home! Where are you now? I'll send my chauffer after you."

"At some coffee shop with Yuki. You'll just have to wait for me. Be patient and don't be so full of it!"

"That hurt, Makino! You're a cruel woman. Okay, I'll give twenty more minutes. Don't let me wait for you!"

"As you wish, Domyouji-sama." Ironically answered Tsukushi before hanging up

Faced with the impossibility to give an answer to his fiancée, Domyouji Tsukasa kept silent for more than three seconds, a premiere for him.

"So, where's Makino? Should we go get her?" asked Akira.

"No, of course not. She's going to be late. Just like someone else we know. She's in some coffee shop with Yuki, talking, as if they haven't seen each other for years."

The infamous F4 minus one, were finally reunited for the first time that week. They had rented the most fashionable café in Tokyo especially for that day, in order to have the necessary privacy to enjoy themselves.

"Let the poor girls talk! You know they are inseparable. Shouldn't we invite Yuki also to the club?" was the intelligent input of a very bored Akira.

After successfully adding another victim to his collection of seduced women, this time the poor waitress who served them, Soujiroh turned to his friends, his attention being caught by the mentioning of Makino's friend: "Yeah, let's! We haven't seen Yuki in ages!"

"What the hell are you talking about? We saw her last week. Remember, baka?" replied an infatuated Domyouji.

"Pssst…Tsukasa, he wasn't with us that time." Akira chimed in, giving Domyouji a nudge.

"I knew that Akira." mumbled an embarrassed Tsukasa. "Where is Rui? He's late. I'm going to kill him!" Domyouji said, changing the subject.

"If you had kept your promise every time you said that, I should have been long dead by now" replied the missing F4 member, who had just entered the café.

"Where have you been? Why are you late? Do you know what time it is? You are exactly ten minutes and twenty seconds late." boosted Tsukasa, pointing to his wristwatch, proud of his precision.

"Yo, Rui! Welcome back! How was Europe?" welcomed the other F4 members.

"Hi guys! Sorry for being late. My plane was delayed. So what did I miss?"

"We were just thinking about inviting Yuki to the club tonight. In fact, I'll call her…"

Yuki was about to enter the house, when her phone rang. "Akira…how strange!" she thought. But she had just met Tsukushi and things between the Trouble Couple were fine. Could something have happened in the meantime?

"Yo, Yuki, coming tonight with us to the club? The F4 is finally reunited, Rui came back from Europe, we're all going to hang out and have a good time. Makino is also coming, of course."

"I would love to, but I've already made some other plans for tonight. I'm really sorry. Maybe some other time. I count on you to tell me the news next time we meet. Say "welcome back" to Rui for me, okay?"

"Don't worry, I'll pick up the pieces of my broken heart and register everything for you." Akira said, joking. And, turning to the guys: "Sorry, it will be just the five of us, Yuki has other plans. Makino will have to bear with us alone tonight… by the way Rui, Yuki says welcome back!"

"Oh, that's too bad. I wanted to see her too." Rui answered.

After talking to Akira, Yuki returned to the task at hand. At this moment nothing was more important than her grandfather's arrival, not even meeting some of her best friends. She was determined to get everything perfect for the occasion, since the relationship between her mother and her grandfather were everything but perfect. If things ran smoothly maybe they wouldn't have anything to fight over. But her plans for the evening were not as glamorous and mysterious as they sounded when talking to Akira. She spent the evening baking the cake and trying to get the filling just right, not too bitter, not too sweet. Her passion for cooking went against her mother's vision of a modern, independent woman. "Oh yeah, I'm doomed to be a housewife." sighed Yuki.

On the other side of the town, a night with the F4 could not be anything but glamorous and mysterious. In the private booth the F3 and Makino were torturing poor Rui into telling the reasons behind all his trips to Europe.

"I told you guys, you'll just have to wait a little more. All will be revealed soon." replied Rui with a mischievous grin.

"Oh, Rui, you bad boy! You know Shizuka's married, don't you? Married women are my domain, not yours!" teased Akira.

"Shizuka? Who said anything about Shizuka?"

This teasing of Rui was not a habitual thing for the F4, Tsukasa, most often than not, was the favorite victim. Rui found himself amused by his friends' curiosity and surprised that Tsukushi was actually playing along. It was good to be like this again, all five of them together, just having a nice evening. For the past few years they had not met as often as they might have wished and it had been a brutal transition, for Rui at least, from seeing the rest of the guys every single day to being able to talk to one of them maybe once a week if he was lucky. The F4 had been scattered all over the world and each of the boys had concentrated on their own lives.

Still uncertain about what to do with his life, unwilling to take over the family business just yet, Rui had decided to continue his bohemian lifestyle and travel all over the world. He preferred Europe though, and it was there that he had spent the largest part of the last years. He had met the most unexpected person in Prague and, although he had not intended to have a travel companion, he soon found himself unable to avoid that person. And maybe it was then that things started happening without Rui's intention. He did not want to, but still discovered that it was pleasant to travel with somebody. The various places they visited seemed more interesting and fascinating with someone, than just observing them by himself. He did not want to, but still felt a little sad when he had returned to Japan, alone this time. And he most certainly had not intended to see the person again, but still, every few weeks he boarded on his private jet and flew to some city in Europe. How was he supposed to know that his travels would attract the curiosity of his friends?

Looking at his friends mercilessly teasing Rui, Soujiroh's mind was elsewhere. One little thing was bothering him: why had it been Akira the one who called Yuki? Since when were the two of them so close? Why did Akira have Yuki's number? He kept pondering upon this. What did he miss in these last few years while he was gone? In the years spent in the United Kingdom, attending Oxford, he had lost touch with what was happening in Japan. The college years had been a blur for him, between social gatherings, seducing women, attending a few courses and managing some of the family business in Europe. Of course, he had seen his friends during this time but not too often, they were continents apart after all. The only moment they had been together had been his graduation day, a memorable day but for all the wrong reasons. He had missed the party especially thrown for him and the F3 made sure that he paid for that. Now, he was once again home, and he planned to retrieve his old life back by his friends' side. Still the question remained: why did Akira call Yuki?

The answer to that question, unknown to Soujiroh, was pretty simple. Yuki and Akira were the only ones left to put up with Tsukushi and Tsukasa. Just because those two got engaged it did not mean that they miraculously had stopped fighting. Akira and Yuki, who actually got along quite well, even got a name for them: the Trouble Couple. Akira scarcely talked about the business part of his life or his family. From all the F4 members it seemed that he was the most unchanged, the same Akira, always joking, having fun, and since his partner in crime was miles away, he seemed to compensate by playing tricks on Tsukasa and Tsukushi, which always ended with Tsukasa yelling or threatening to kill him. Most of his spare time he spent it with his friends who actually remained in Japan, but talked from time to time with the others as well, on the phone. He really cared about keeping the F4 together.

The only F4 who had any plans for the future was, surprisingly enough, Tsukasa. He knew exactly what will become of him in the next years (precisely because he had spent the last years planning it carefully) and with whom he wished to spend the rest of his life. Tsukushi was a good influence on him, she forced him to mature and be less impulsive, although this was not clear most of the times. Nothing made him happier than knowing they will be married in a few months and his family life was as close to perfection as it could be. Especially since Tsubaki, maybe inspired by her brother's courage and rebellion, had decided to walk out of an unwanted marriage imposed by Kaede. Their mother did not dictate with an iron fist over their personal lives anymore. Of course, one could not say the same thing about the family business. Kaede proved to be a tyrant and Tsukasa was not the one to be exceeded. He showed the same leadership skills as his mother. Even though they did not like to share their success with each other, things were beaming when they put their heads together in achieving something. With their inborn obstinacy no one could get in their way.


	4. Chapter 3

Our dear patient readers

We finally succeeded! We know that it took an eternity and we apologise. We hate to say this since when we read it in other fics we just thought it was a big fat lie, but reality has kept us busy. The following chapters will probably take just as much to be posted, and we apologise in advance. Do not worry though, we intend to keep this fic running. We would also like to thank our beta reader, Puppeeter, for helping us making the story better. Hope you enjoy it! As always, your comments and suggestions are welcomed.

Kriseis and Zaza

* * *

"_Your very silence shows you agree_."

Euripides

The following day Yuki worked on the preparations for the grandfather's arrival till late afternoon. Keeping occupied she felt the time pass easier and thus she did not think too much about what reasons might there be behind his sudden wish to come visit. If only her father and brother were here as well, she would have her family reunited. But, of course, that would be too much to wish for. It was enough already that her mother and grandfather will be in the same room together. Her father's presence would make it even worse. Such a meeting would be more catastrophic than a hydrogen bomb. "Mother, father and grandpa would make a chemical reaction more spectacular than cold fusion." thought Yuki, smiling and falling onto the soft living room couch. It was time to take a well-deserved brake.

She looked around the living, satisfied with her work – a good exemplification of her great taste and intuition as an interior designer – modesty apart, she had to admit that decorating spaces for special events was her thing. All was ready to welcome the great coffee tycoon. She had worked hard from the early hours of the morning to make the most out of their modest living room which had a more practical side to it reuniting in the same space the sitting room and an open kitchen. Thus it was used more as a place to eat and watch TV – sometimes both at the same time – than welcoming such important guests. Besides tidying up the place, she changed the dark green draperies with some plain yellow ones in order to lighten up the room a bit – they matched perfectly with the light green walls, giving a sense of simple elegance. A short incursion into the local market place had solved the problem of the significant details. She had bought all the daffodils she could find – Takeshi's favorite flowers - and had filled the vases with them, scattering them around the room, replacing thus her mother's collection of Matryoshka dolls, which her grandfather couldn't stand. It took Yuki a while to find Kagura's treasured tea set – the one she intended to give to her daughter as a dowry – but now three beautiful cups were resting on the coffee table next to the sofa, while the matching teapot had been carefully placed on the little bar that partially separeted the kitchen from the sitting area. The most tiring part had been moving the plants around the room till she found the perfect spot for them. That had taken longer than ironing the curtains and the tablecloth, not to mention more physically challenging.

She knew that despite her effort to make the house look good, her grandfather will not see it with the same eyes as she and her mother did, but it was worth a try. The home she lived in with her mother was pretty spacious for the two of them, accommodating a living room, a kitchen and a bathroom downstairs, and upstairs two bedrooms and her mother's study (being a women's magazine editor gave Kagura the opportunity to work at home very often). Kagura was very proud of it because she had managed to buy it on her own, without receiving a cent from her ex-husband, she saw it as the fruit of her labor, and Yuki respected that. Of course, the house lost it value when compared with the Takashimizu estates, but this small house had a homey feeling for Yuki which none of the others did.

Yuki was about to go upstairs to her room when she heard a car stop in front of the house. What followed seemed to happen in a flash: she turned around immediately and rushed to the door, hitting her leg against the coffee table in the process." Ouch!" she squeaked while bending to rub her sore knee in order to lesser the pain. But by doing this she accidentally hit one of the vases which wobbled a little, being in danger of falling. Instinctively Yuki stretched out her right arm to catch it but lost her balance and fell, once more causing pain to her knees. Fortunately the vase was okay but the same couldn't be said about her legs. Too eager to see her grandfather, she got up and limped to the door, opened it and, to her surprise she bumped into Takeshi's chest.

"Grandfather, it's so nice to see you again! I'm so glad you came!" she said after resuming her upright position and looking straight into his face, with cheerful eyes and a big smile.

Takeshi embraced his granddaughter tightly and after a minute or two he released her and held her at a reasonable distance in order to see his pride and joy:

"Let me see my Yuki-chan better. My, my, Yuki, don't change so fast or your grandfather won't be able to recognize you anymore." joked the old man giving Yuki a wink.

"I missed you, grandpa" smiled Yuki, getting the allusion. "Come, let's get inside and make you comfortable! It has been a long trip." she said while gesturing for him to enter.

"Oh, the hardship I go through in order to see my Yuki-chan!" said Takeshi, playing the victim. If there was one thing he loved in his life that was seeing his granddaughter's joyful eyes.

"Oh, my poor, poor grandpa, he definitely deserves some coffee!" Yuki played along.

"Can't wait to taste it, I felt the coffee aroma two blocks from here" he answered. Then, turning to his chauffer "Please take the luggage to the main house and then come back and wait for me."

"As the master wishes." the chauffer answered politely, before getting in the car and driving away.

Minutes later Takeshi was standing in the living room, waiting patiently for the tea to be ready while Yuki was busying herself in the kitchen with arranging pastries on plates. He tried, without looking too suspicious, to observe the surroundings in which his only granddaughter grew up. Of course, he was not going to tell Yuki, but he couldn't help thinking that this was not enough for a granddaughter of his. Although the place seemed very nice and tastefully decorated, everything in the house had a purely practical use. There were no luxury items, nothing with which the other members of the family were used to. He was beginning to doubt that allowing Kagura to raise Yuki by herself had been a good idea. His attention was drawn by the pictures visible all over the room. There were some with Shinichi as a small boy, playing volleyball or dressed in his kindergarden uniform, more of Yuki, depicting all the important stages of her life, one or two with Kagura and her children. The only ones who seemed to be absent were him and Kazuo. "So, Kagura, you completly erased us from your life." the old man thought before hearing his granddaughter tell him:

"Mom is running a little late tonight, but she will make it in time for dinner." said Yuki coming from the kitchen with a tray containing the teapot and the two plates with cake.

"It's alright, that will just leave us more time to talk." he responded while sitting down on the sofa. Seeing that Yuki had finished pouring the tea in the cups, he motioned for her to take a seat next to him and said:" Tell me about yourself, Yuki-chan! How is life treating you these days?"

"Fine, grandpa, everything is fine. Graduation is only days away and I am excited about it. I hope you will stay in Tokyo until then."

"Of course I will. Like I would miss such an important day for you!" He had missed enough of those as the pictures had just reminded him.

"And my best friend is going to get married soon and she put me in charge of the wedding decorations and…" The sudden ring of the phone interrupted Yuki's idea: "Oh, sorry grandpa, but I must answer the phone. It might be mom. Maybe she can't make it after all…" She got up and went to answer the phone.

But as she soon found out, it was not Kagura.

"Yo, Yuki! Want to hear the latest news?"

"Akira! I was beginning to wonder when you were going to call!"

Takeshi's interest was suddenly focused on the conversation of those two. His granddaughter had told him many times about some of her friends, including the young man who called, but she never mentioned a boyfriend. Seeing her smile and laugh wholeheartedly, he began to wonder if he knew the whole truth. Maybe this Akira was in fact Yuki's boyfriend. A girl of Yuki's age, so pretty and sweet must have at least one suitor. Shigure and he hadn't thought about this possibility. Could he ask his granddaughter to give up her obvious happiness to satisfy one of his desires? Could he be so selfish?

"Sorry again, grandpa!"

She was still blushing when she went and seated herself by his side.

"Oh, it's alright Yuki-chan! My beautiful granddaughter has a busy social life, I understand. But you didn't tell me you had a boyfriend, you evil little girl!" A mischiveous grin had appeared on the old man's face, making Yuki blush even more.

"Ah… Akira is not my boyfriend." a tomato red Yuki replied. "We are just good friends…I don't have a boyfriend. My luck with boys had not been the best… and…"

Yuki was interrupted yet again, but this time by her mother's arrival announced by the sound of the keys and the opening of the front door. Kagura entered the room, with a bunch of flowers in her arms and a big smile on her face. She had forgotten that her ex-father-in-law was visiting.

"Look, Yuki! Aren't they the most beautiful flowers you have ever seen? Ah…I'm sorry, good evening Takashimizu-sama! It's nice to see you again." she said, more out of politeness then of sympathy.

"Good evening, Kagura! Long time no see." was the reply, in a cold, harsh tone, just like Kagura's.

This polite exchange of words seemed too cold to Yuki as well, so she decided to take the conversation in another direction while getting up and taking the flowers from her mothers arms:

"They are truly beautiful. Who are they from?" said Yuki pointing to the multi-colored flowers.

"From one of my readers. Apparently, I am a source of inspiration for her.", she responded winking to her daughter.

"Way to go mom!" Yuki congratulated her while filling another vase with water and putting the flowers in it.

"Hope I am not late for dinner."

"No, not at all. I was just going to get up and get ready. You and grandpa can catch up."

Leaving those two alone may not have been one of Yuki's best ideas. But still, she went to her room. The smiles on Kagura's and Takeshi's faces only lasted till they heard the door of Yuki's room close. Then, the battle began:

"Why are you really here? I'm having troubles believing that you just wanted to see Yuki. You are not the kind of man who does things without ulterior motives." Kagura began.

"Maybe I just wanted to see for myself Yuki's living conditions. I should have never let her stay with you! I see that now. She would have had everything she desired in my mansion."

"There are people whose lives are a lot worse than ours. Believe it or not. Yuki had everything she needed and at least she grew up in a loving environment. I doubt that would have happened in your mansion. She grew up to be an independent woman, not a pampered brat who throws his toys away when he's tired of them, like your son."

"That's enough, Kagura! I haven't gone through all this trouble just to have another fight with you. I came to talk to Yuki." growled the old man. She had really pushed his buttons.

"About…?"

"If you really must know, a marriage proposal." His voice was again calm. He was in control of the situation.

"Ah, not that nonsense again! You failed with Kazuo and now you wish to torment Yuki? Maybe fate doesn't want to have yours and Shigure's family united. I will not let you use my daughter for your selfish purposes." Kagura had raised her voice by now, her cheeks were flushed and her palms were closed into fists. This indisturbable attitude of his was driving her mad.

"I'm not asking for your permission. I'm just telling you the reason for my visit. Yuki-chan is old enough to decide by herself."

"You bastard! She will never accept!" she yelled, swiftly getting up, hitting the coffee table with one of her fist.

The fight had reached the point where Yuki couldn't ignore it anymore. Her last preparations were done in a hurry and she went to the living room in order to settle the fight between her two loved ones. When she finally got downstairs, it was worse. They had stopped yelling at each other but the tension was so thick that you could cut it with a knife.

"You were fighting?" pulling in an angry breath " I left you alone for less then five minutes!"

"Do you know what your beloved grandfather plans to do? He wants to marry you to some stranger so that he can fulfill a silly dream of his."

"What are you talking about?" asked Yuki, a little confused. "Grandfather, is that true? What is this all about?"

"That's putting it roughly…" reacted Takeshi in a calm tone, totally different from Kagura's. "Let's just go to dinner and I'll explain everything to you then."

"Alright, let's go then! Mom, are you ready...?"

"I've lost my appetite. You go if you want to." replied Kagura in a stiff tone.

Yuki looked undecided and disconcerted at her mother and grandfather. Her mother was clearly upset, she did not want to leave for dinner without her, but on the other hand, she did not want to turn down her grandfather's invitation either. She had put so much effort into making this evening pleasurable and it had all been ruined in an instant. Why couldn't her family be a normal one? Was it so much to ask for?

"Mom…" Yuki found herself calling without being able to finish the sentence. What was she supposed to say in this kind of situation? It was impossible to choose. She could not let her grandfather down; he had traveled a long distance to see her, they barely saw each other as it was, and besides, she wanted to know more about the "arranged marriage" thing. She had never seen her grandfather as a man with outdated principles. What was this sudden plan of his? But what about her mother? Could she just leave her in this state? It was obvious that that the discussion with her grandfather had roughly shaken her mother's temper.

Seeing disorientation and exasperation written on her daughter's face, Kagura gave in and spoke to Yuki in a calmer tone:

"You can go to dinner with your grandfather. You must settle things once and for all. We will talk when you get back. Just don't take any rushed decisions, okay?" Then she added, while stroking Yukis hair and adjusting the little ruffles from the collar of her baby-blue dress: "Look how pretty my baby is!"

Not long after, Yuki left. Being a smoker, Kagura discovered that sometimes not even cigarettes could calm her down. She needed to argue with someone, to put some order into her thoughts by verbalizing them. The quarrel with Takeshi had not been enough. She had always found it impossible to properly fight with him because of his distant, indifferent and mostly stubborn attitude. So, she did the only thing she could do, she called her ex-husband.

"Kagura, make it quick. I have a meeting in half an hour and I can't be late." was Kazuo's terse reply.

"I'll skip the small talk then. Your mentally unstable father wants to force our daughter to marry a total stranger." Kagura was surprised by how coherent she seemed to be during such a crisis.

"I thought he had given up on his old plans. But since Shigure has two grandsons, I suppose he wants to marry Yuki to one of them. And what do you want me to do?"

Kagura lashed out in frustration: "Stop him, of course. He's your father and you can't let him ruin Yuki's life. She's your daughter too, get more involved in her life!"

"If you really want to know, it's not the worst idea he ever had. Shigure's company has increased its profits by forty per cent last year. Merged, our two companies would dominate the market in Japan and, who knows, maybe the European ones also."

"You are worse than I thought. We're speaking about your daughter's future, not some profitable business."

"My father may be capable of many things, but he won't do anything against Yuki's will, you don't have to worry about that. And Yuki is old enough to decide by herself what she wants. Stop trying to control her!"

"Is that all you have to say?"

"If you were trying to turn me against my father, you've got the wrong person. If Yuki is okay with it, I fully support my father's plan."

"She will not fit in! She is not a part of your and your father's world!"

"And whose fault is that?"

Kazuo hung up without adding another word, leaving Kagura even more infuriated than before the conversation. In cases like this, in her opinion, there was one thing left to do: get another cigarette and let the smoke that filled her lungs calm her down.

**xxx**

Dinner had been an extremely awkward affair and lacked any major revelation till desert. Although Yuki was a little anxious about the discussion that would surely follow the last course, she managed to put a smile on her face and talk about everyday matters with her grandfather. Takeshi on the other hand was anxious, not knowing how to introduce the taboo subject without causing his granddaughter more discomfort than necessary. He had deliberately postponed the impending marriage discussion until after dinner, careful enough not to cause his dear Yuki-chan indigestion.Unfortunately it seemes he might be suffering that condition before the night is over. "This will be the decisive moment. Now or never." thought Takeshi. He put the coffee cup on the table and coughed two times in order to get his granddaughter's attention.

"My dear Yuki-chan, I know that you patiently waited for me to retake the subject left unfinished before we left for the restaurant. Things are not as shocking as they might have seemed to you the first time."

Feeling a knot in her throat, Yuki left the tiramisu unfinished and focused all her attention on what her grandfather had to say.

"Don't worry. Grandpa has no intention of forcing you into an arranged marriage. You will enter this engagement on your own will. What I am asking you is to give it a chance." Takeshi began telling Yuki about his and his best friend's dream and the vows they made to make it come true.

All her grandfather's enthusiastic talk touched poor sentimentalist Yuki, who for the most part was convinced to accept Takeshi's proposition. Still, something stopped her; maybe the voice of reason that told her that reality is different from the fairy tale with the prince and the shining castle, maybe her mother's words or maybe just some feelings for a person she already had given up…something was screaming at her to not open her mouth and say something for which she might repent later.

Looking at Yuki, who was playing with the spoon trough what remained of a once beautiful piece of tiramisu, Takeshi realized that it was useless to try and get an answer from her that night. He smiled tenderly and continued...

"It's alright; you don't have to give me an answer right now. Think about it and tell me when you've made up your mind."

Yuki raised her eyes from the plate, returned her grandfather's smile and uttered an almost whispered: "Yes."

Her silence was becoming unbearable. He had succeeded to make his always cheerful granddaughter, silent and serious. Seeing her like this, Takeshi noticed Yuki's resemblance to her father and brother. He had always seen Yuki as very different from Shinichi, almost opposites. His grandson was the realistic, serious and straightforward kind of person, while Yuki was the cheerful, innocent, dreamy type of girl.

"Have you heard from your brother lately?" asked Takeshi, trying to break the silence. Talking about Shinichi always brought a smile on her face.

"Oh yes, he called me yesterday. I told him you were coming. He was happy because he had closed a deal with aaahh…a company with which they had been talking for a month about a possible merger, a chain of coffee shops, but I forgot its name. What was it called? Dunno…think…think…"

"Café Preto?" helped Takeshi.

"Oh yes, that one. We joked about the fact that if I went to Brazil he would let me take care of the Café's designs. And he promised me that if he is free, he'd come to my graduation as well. Oh, and he already sent me the most wonderful dress to wear at the graduation party. You must see it grandpa…"

Takeshi watched his Yuki talking effortlessly about her brother. It seemed that he had managed to lighten her up. The conversation lasted for about half an hour more, and then he ordered the bill and they left the restaurant. It was already late and he was sure that Kagura was, by now, like a lion in a cage, waiting for Yuki to get back home. Although she had managed to repress her anger in front of Yuki, he had never seen the look that woman gave him when they left on her face before. If looks could kill, he would have died on the spot.

**xxx**

"Come on, Akira, you told me that you would take me to the newest place in town and now you brought me to this old club?"

"Soujiroh, trust me! You will have the time of your life."

Why was it that the phrase "trust me" spoken by Akira had the opposite effect? Soujiroh and Akira were out, on one of their white nights again. They had just got out of their cars and were about to enter the club. Knowing that Soujiroh was back in town, the owner of the club had prepared a special night for him. A club where Akira and Soujiroh spent at least some hours was due to be filled in no time. They were good publicity.

Soujiroh was looking around, trying to see who else had been dragged to this party, when he thought he spotted Yuki. He couldn't be sure it was her, but turned anyway towards Akira and said:

"Hey, isn't that Yuki? The girl over there, getting into that grey limo?" pointing to a slender silhouette stnading next to a very posh, very expensive car.

"Where? Ah, you know, I think you are right for once. Let's go say hello."

"No way! Can't you see that she is obviously not alone? It would be rude to interrupt." For some unexplainable reason he didn´t want to know who was with Yuki.

"Rubbish! Friends care about each other and can communicate every time they want to. I'm not you, I call her more than just once a year. I haven't seen you and Yuki talk even once since you got back. What's wrong with you two?"

"Nothing. I just didn't get the chance to see her." Soujiroh calmly stated, turning his back to Akira and going ahead to the entrance, leaving his friend to wonder what was really going on.

Not wanting to get into an argument with Soujiroh, Akira just dropped the subject. He'll get to the bottom of this some other time…

"_I spy with my eyes a naughty girl who didn't tell us she had a date. Who is the lucky guy_?" Yuki read the message from Akira. The only features of her face that did not blush in that moment were her ears.

"Oh, that Akira! So, he wants to play, does he?" giggled Yuki while texting a reply: "_Wouldn't you like to know?!_"

If Akira sent her this, he must have seen her. That meant he was in close range. She turned around in the direction the commotion was heard. For a second her heart stopped when she saw the person standing next to Akira. She hadn't seen Soujiroh in such a long time. It was amazing, even to her, that she had made this decision. She smiled and bowed her head to them, not being able to take her eyes off of Soujiroh. He was smiling as well. Was it her imagination or the distance that did not let her distinguish too well their expression? The car started to run and Yuki returned to a proper position, in more silence than during dinner.

Takeshi looked at Yuki but did not ask her anything. He was just content to smile reassuringly at her and keep quiet for the rest of the ride. There were too many things he did not know about Yuki's life. Who was this Akira guy for whom Yuki blushed and at whose sight had she been reduced to a most uncomfortable silence?

**xxx**

After leaving Yuki in the safety of her home, the driver took Takeshi to his mansion in Tokyo. As he entered the house, he was welcomed by the butler, who, while he had been gone, had made all the arrangements for his master to feel most comfortable. If one wished to describe Hisoka in a single word, it would be efficiency.

"Good evening, Takashimizu-sama! I hope your dinner with Miss Yuki has been most enjoyable!"

"As always, Hisoka, as always. Did something happen while I was gone?" he asked while taking off his coat and handing it to his butler.

"Master Kazuo called, sir."

"My son?! Did he leave any message for me?"

"Oh yes, sir. He asked the master to call him back. He wanted to know more details about the arranged marriage you planned for Miss Yuki."

"Kagura did not waste time. News travel fast, don't they, Hisoka?"

"Indeed they do, sir. Indeed they do."

So, Kazuo had already found out about his plans. He was certain that his son wouldn't be against this arrangement. The Nishikado family was one of the most influential in Japan. As his son probably saw things, the engagement will only strengthen the business relationships between the two "empires". The old man did not have any doubts about getting his son's approval on this matter. Not that it mattered too much. Neither his nor Kagura's opinion mattered too much. The only approval that Takeshi needed was that of his granddaughter. If Yuki gave him a positive answer he would go to finally making his dream come true. With these thoughts in mind Takeshi took a seat in one of the armchairs in the library. A good book and a nice evening tea will give him his much needed rest.

The butler came in, carrying a tray with the tea and a plate of assorted cookies. He carefully put them on the small table that was in his master's reach and bowed to leave.

"Hisoka" Takeshi called in a decided tone "when we get back to Nikko please take care of all the arrangements for Yuki's arrival.

"As you wish. I'll have little Miss's room be prepared for her stay. If I may sir, when will we get the pleasure to have her in Nikko?"

"In a week's time…"

The butler retired, leaving once again his master to his books and thoughts.

Irrespective of Yuki's answer about the marriage, he will have her stay with him at Nikko this summer. About that he will not accept "no" for an answer. His granddaughter will take her rightful place in the family. Many things he had experienced today had made him come to this decision. But most of all, there had been one little incident that happened at the restaurant which made Takeshi's blood pressure rise. Yuki signed the restaurant's guestbook as Matsuoka Yuki. She was a Takashimizu. Why did she sign the guestbook with her mother's maiden name? That was unacceptable for Takeshi. How could Kagura go this far as to deny Yuki's descend and how had it been possible for Kazuo to allow such a preposterous thing?

**xxx**

Yuki was sitting on her bed, chin resting on her knees, playing with her mobile phone. Tonight she couldn't think of Akira without having her thoughts immediately jump to Soujiroh, which she did not like at all. She had already decided that she had given up on him and she remembered exactly how it happened…

_In Soujiroh's last year of college, Yuki had decided to go study for a semester abroad in a University in London. She had abandoned all her certainties in life – her mother, her friends, and her way of life – in order to be close to him. Her brother had been the only person whom she knew in that vast city and since Shinichi was busy most of the time, his girlfriend couldn't spent all the time with her, and Soujiroh was his usual self, those had been the loneliest six months of her life. Still, she endured everything without complaining just for the slight chance to see him once in a while. The only thing that kept her going was the memory of him mentioning, the first time he had seen her, that he was happy she was there._

_Seeing that he obviously missed his friends, an idea popped into her head, to throw a party for his graduation day, reuniting the F4. She called Tsukushi and told her to take care of things in Japan while she did the actual planning of the party. Those had been the happiest days of her stay in London. She actually did have things to take care of and didn't feel so out of place anymore. But nothing went according to the plan._

_The five of them – the F3, Tsukushi and Yuki – waited all night long for the guest of honor to come. Which of course, only made Tsukasa furious; Rui, obviously frustrated, retired into a corner and kept silent most of the night. Akira kept repeating that surely Soujiroh had a good reason to miss a party especially thrown for him, but Tsukushi suspected that not even him believed what he was saying. The only person who was probably thinking the worse, was Yuki. She couldn't get out of her mind the picture of him lying in a ditch somewhere, bleeding to death._

"_Will you try calling him again, Akira, please! Maybe this time he will answer." asked a very anxious Yuki._

_The truth was Akira knew very well what it meant if Soujiroh didn't answer his phone, but chose to keep quiet. And he knew his presuppositions had been correct when his friend finally appeared. He looked less groomed than usual, his hair was ruffled, his shirt not buttoned properly, he seemed a little drunk and the blonde supermodel on his arm didn't leave a trace of a doubt about what he had been doing._

_This only seemed to infuriate even more, if it was possible, Tsukasa. The F4 leader walked right up to Soujiroh, hit him in the face and told him:_

"_You asshole! Do you know how long we have been waiting for you? Or how hard did the girls work on this party?"_

_And then he left, slamming the door. The one following him, probably to try and calm him down, was Tsukushi. The next one to leave was Rui, but in a much more pacifistic manner. He felt content with just looking Soujiroh in the eyes and telling him,_

_"This time you really screwed up."_

_Ah, Rui, always the voice of reason!_

_If Akira was disappointed in Soujiroh, he did not show it. He chose to tackle the practical aspects of the problem and offered to take the young lady who came with his friend home, since Soujiroh was not really in condition to do so. Not forgetting though to order his chauffer to make sure that his best friend got home and that Yuki reached her brother's apartment safely. _

_She was the only one left, sitting quietly in a chair in the opposite side of the room. She had almost fallen on it on seeing Soujiroh arrive safe and sound, and now she felt that she couldn't get up. Just as she couldn't take her eyes off of him, even though tears were beginning to slowly slide on her cheeks._

"_Well, there is only you left now. Aren't you going to say something as well ?" asked Soujiroh while gingerly caressing his soon to be very bruised cheek._

"_I don't think I have anything left to say to you. For so many years I've tried to get through to you, to make you feel anything…"_

"_So what do you want from me? To turn you into one more of those replaceable women that hop into my bed? I thought we were more than that. We are friends."_

_Silence filled the room for a few minutes before Yuki found the strength to get up from her chair and utter a few last words before leaving the room. _

_With her back to Soujiroh, she whispered: "Fine, I finally understand now. I give up…"_

For some unknown reason she couldn't get rid of the image of a drunken, badly dressed Soujiroh standing in the middle of the hall. He didn't respond or try to stop her, Yuki wasn't even sure if he had heard her. And since then they hadn't seen each other. Until tonight. In all these years Yuki understood that Soujiroh had an addictive quality for her: Once he entered her thoughts, she couldn't…wouldn't escape his image. So much of her life had been decide according to what he did or failed to do. It didn't surprise Yuki that the final argument to help her make up her mind was provided by the memory of that day. Old habits die hard after all.

Sighing, she got up. Yuki knew that her mother couldn't sleep either, and somehow, she felt that Kagura should be the first one to be informed about her decision. Yuki found her mother in her study, smoking and scribbling furiously on a piece of paper. That is how Kagura's best articles were written.

Standing in the threshold of the door, Yuki mustered all of her courage and said:

"Mom…"

"What is it darling? Why are you up?" Kagura asked without looking away from her papers.

"Mom, I've been thinking about it…"

"About what?" she inquired, this time with more interest.

"About what grandfather asked me. I think I'm going to accept it…"


	5. Chapter 4

"_Our thoughts are ours, their ends are none of ours."_

Shakespeare

"You WHAT? yelled Tsukushi, while putting both her hands on the table and leaning her head forward, to get a better look at Yuki. Only like this she could express the absolute shock generated by her friend's confession, coming out of the blue. They had been sitting at the corner table in a little resturant close to Yuki's college for about two hours. They had finished their meal and were now enjoying a good cup of coffee, when she decided to drop the bomb.

"Tsukushi-chan, please, lower your voice. People are staring." asked Yuki, gently shaking her right palm, gesturing to her friend to not draw so much attention at them, a little embarrassed by all the curious looks they were getting.

"How can you ask me to be calm? Do you realize what you just said to me?" Tsukushi was still looking at her friend, but she decided that her astonishment might represent a source of danger to the cup in front of her, so she moved it a little more to the centre of the table. Better be safe than sorry. Who knew what Yuki was going to say next and how she will react to it?

"Let me explain and you'll see that things are not as outrageous as they might seem."

Tsukushi sat back down at the table, leaned back on her chair, crossed her legs, arranged the hem of her skirt, then finally looked Yuki straight in the eyes and said: "Fine. I'll shut up. Now, explain!"

Yuki felt a little intimidated, seeing her friend watching her like that, disapproval written all over her face. Tsukushi very much resembled Yuki´s image of what a lawyer should look like, patiently waiting to hear her opponents arguments and then dismiss them all and proving to her that she was guilty. Or mad. Or both. It lasted only for a moment though, she had been thinking all night about how she would tell this to her friend and she was prepared for it. And if she had succeeded in telling her mother she could do it again, although at this moment she did not know who was scarier: her mother or Tsukushi. She took a deep breath in and began:

"Although it may seem strange for me to do such a thing, you must admit that my choices in men have not been the best. When it comes to love I'm not really that lucky. I don't really have anything to lose and it would make my grandfather so happy…"

Hearing her friend speak, Tsukushi noticed that Yuki never once looked straight at her. She had kept her gaze lowered, nervously playing with a tissue paper that now laid crumbled in Yuki's lap.

"Yes, but you were always the idealistic one, believing in true love and soul mates. You realize this marriage could be forever and a divorce is never a pretty affair, you know that better than anyone. Now you still have a chance at finding the perfect guy for you. But if you're going to get married, it won't matter if you do or not."

"I have already found him, you know I did. Only that I've discovered that even if you find your soul mate, you don't have the certainty that you'll get the happy ending as well. Not everyone is as fortunate as you and Tsukasa. At least like this I know I'll make one person happy."

Tsukushi, irritated by her friend's low moral, raised her voice once again: "You don't even know that person! What if he's not a good man, what if he hurts you, what if he's a pervert?" she interjected, emphasizing the last word.

Yuki raised her eyes to her friend, half amused by her friends pressupositions: "You're going too far. It's not like we're getting married right away. We'll have an engagement, we'll have enough time to get to know each other and after that we'll both decide if we want to get married or not. And besides, I don't think my grandfather will choose such a man for me."

Obviously frustrated, Tsukushi sighed and kept silent. She just wanted to look at Yuki, to convince herself that the person sitting in front of her was really her best friend. At the moment she was having troubles believing that. The person she had known for all these years wouldn´t have said something so foolish, let alone decide such a thing. She has always known Yuki was a true altruist, that she honestly took pleasure out of making others happy, but wasn't this a little too extreme?

Tsukushi could practicaly feel the thoughts swarming around in her head. The news might have been just a little too much for her, she did not really know how to react. The only clear thing to her right now was that her friend needed her help and support. Even if she thought that Yuki had made a bad decision, she had no way to make her change her mind. Nothing she could do or say could convince Yuki of the possible mistake she was about to make. The best solution Tsukushi could come up with in such a situation was to just stand by her friend, support her and if possible, stop her from getting into too much trouble. Finally, after a few moments of silence, she said:

"You can say whatever you want, I am not convinced about this and I don't think this is a good idea. But I can't control the choices you make either. I wish I could get to know this guy, to see for myself that he's worthy of you…"

Her words surprised Yuki. Truth be told, she was expecting some more shouts, maybe some reproaches, some "BAKA" out of her friend. After the initial shock, Tsukushi seemed to have taken the news quite well and Yuki was unusure if that was a good or a bad thing.

"Well, you could come with me to Nikko. Grandfather is expecting me there after my graduation…but oh! I forgot about your and Tsukasa's romantic trip before the wedding."

All of a sudden, raising up from her chair in a glorious pose of victory, right fist up and looking to the ceiling, Tsukushi said: "To hell with romantic trips! I have to make sure my best friend doesn't marry an idiotic, self-sufficient bastard!" And muttering to herself: "It's enough that I do."

Yuki, leaning back onto her chair, a little scared with her friend's sudden outburst of energy, asked: "You're coming with me? What are you going to tell Tsukasa?"

**xxx**

"Aahh, such a wonderful afternoon" thought Rui "just sitting by the window, feeling the rays of the sun warm my back, reading a good novel while listening to Soujiroh and Akira bickering in the background…Ah, these are the days!" But not even Rui could ignore the screams of the maids and constant apologies, doors being slammed and the resounding noise of footsteps approaching. In a few seconds, the Tsukasa Hurricane finally made his appearance in the room. The F4 leader had a murderous look in his eyes, his hair was dishivelled, the first buttons of his white shirt undone and the black tie hangging loosely around his neck. He stopped in front of the door when entering the room, inspecting it like a general with his troops and then finally spoke:

"She's dead meat! This time she's definitely dead meat!"

Knowing what's best for them, none of the F3 made any sudden movements, Akira and Soujiroh just quietly watching the Domyouji heir go to the bar and pour himself a drink, while Rui, without even looking up from his novel, asked: "What did she do this time?"

"Don't even ask me... three days I spent planning this trip to impress her with my grand romantic gestures and make her irremediably fall for me. And now she says she can't go! I offer her the trip of a lifetime to Europe and she decides to go to Nikko! Women! Who can understand them?"

"Don't even bother, you never will! That's why I don't try." A laid-back Soujiroh responded.

Akira, who couldn't retain his amusement anymore, burst in laughter and said: "Ha, ha, ha! Tsukushi stood you up!"

This seemed to infuriate Tsukasa even more then Tsukushi did, so he gave his friend a menacing look and yelled:

"Shut your trap Akira or I'll kill you too!" Tsukasa, annoyed, dropped himself on the couch.

"There, there, Tsukasa…" intervened Soujiroh, mockingly patting him on the shoulder "…she'll come back to you, she always does."

Feeling the need to stop the madness before it got too hard to handle and deciding that the F2 were doing anything but appeasing Tsukasa, Rui closed his book: "What's with the sudden trip to Nikko? What's so important up there?"

"How should I know?! Makino and Yuki decided to spend the summer there for some unknown reason. Something to do with Yuki's wedding…I wasn't really paying attention, I was too furious about the cancellation of our trip."

"Yuki getting married? I'm sure you got it wrong…she hasn't told me anything about it…" a confident Akira said while getting up and glaring at Tsukasa.

"No, no. That part I think I got it right…I was still listening to Tsukushi but then I got too pissed off to pay attention to her excuses."

"Aaahh…so that was whom she was with last night when we saw her…" You could practically see the light bulb turning on above Akira's head. "…remember, Soujiroh? That's why she was so nicely dressed. He probably proposed to her last night…" and after a slight pause, talking more to himself than to the others: "I can't believe she hasn't told me anything about this! Why wasn't I told?" This really surprised Akira. Not only had he and Yuki become close friends in the last years, but he was Mimasaka Akira, for God´s sake! He knew everything that happend with the F4 and their friends. What´s with all the secrecy all of a sudden?

By this time, all the other F4 members were staring a little oddly at their friend. Feeling all the gazes focused on him, Akira innocently asked: "What?"

"Returning to the matter at hand. A trip is not such a bad idea. If the girls are taking one, so should we. " Rui proposed, appearing not at all bothered by the news that Tsukasa had brought, like Yuki suddenly getting married without telling anyone anything about it was the most natural thing in the world.

While Akira and Rui were trying to convince Tsukasa that it would be a great idea to have a trip only the four of them instead of having a bachelor's party, Soujiroh was beginning to think that maybe he was the only one shocked by the sudden discovery. Tsukasa was too mad at Makino to think about anything else, Rui still hadn´t put down the book he had been reading, so it was safe to say that he wasn´t very interested in Yuki´s personal life and Akira, after that outburst about why he hand´t been informed about her plans, seemed to be quite happy with the news. Only he found himself thinking out loud: "This is ridiculous! We can't possibly be speaking about the same Yuki-chan! She couldn't have made up her mind in so little time. She couldn't have gotten over me so quickly! I'm Nishikado Soujiroh, she had a crush on me for years! And who's this guy? Why haven't we met him at all? We should have Akira's men find out everything about him."

In the meantime, the F3 decided that maybe they should hear what Soujiroh had to say about the traveling also. Not wanting to interrupt him, they waited for their friend to finish his dramatic monologue and his pacing around the room. After it was over, Tsukasa was the first one to speak:

"Oh my God! First Akira and now Soujiroh! It's spreading like a disease! Rui, let's run while we're still safe!" Pleased with the joke he pulled, Domyouji grinned at his friends, in a better disposition now that he had released his anger.

In the meanwhile, Soujiroh had managed to regain his cool composure and changed the subject before it could go any further: "About this trip…you were saying?"

"We haven't decided on the destination yet, baka…you surely haven't paid attention, have you?" teased Akira.

"Of course I have. And to make Tsukasa happy, let's go to Nikko as well…"

Those might have been the magic words to make Tsukasa completely forget his reason for beeing so mad just a few minutes ago and, before Soujiroh could finish his sentence, he perked up and said: "Excellent idea, Soujiroh! You've already said that your grandparents bought a new estate there…don't you guys want to see it? It's settled. We'll go there!" Tsukasa decided, hitting the table with his fists for emphasis.

None of the guys protested for the simple reason that to make Tsukasa change his mind once he had taken a decision was an impossible task.

After thinking for a while, Rui joined the conversation: "I also support this decision, but I don't think we should leave in the same day as the girls. We don't want to make it seem like we're stalking them after all. And besides, I would like to bring someone else too, if you don't mind." Now he put his book down and was looking at his friends, serious and grave, expecting an answer.

On hearing this, both Soujiroh and Akira smiled: "Ah…so he is finally going to introduce the mysterious girlfriend…" Not getting the idea, as usual, was Tsukasa, but he just smiled along.

**xxx**

Saturday morning, as promised, Takeshi passed by Kagura's house to take Yuki and her friend. Takeshi had stayed in Tokyo precisely in order to leave in the same day as Yuki, he wanted to make sure that she will come with him to Nikko, that Kagura will not try to pull one of her stunts.

The one that wasn't too happy about this was Kagura, who had hoped until this very moment, that Yuki would change her mind and cancel this absurd engagement. But it wasn't like that, Yuki was determined to accomplish her grandfather's wish, and thus, although it was early in the morning, both girls were already prepared for the trip, awake, dressed and with the luggages packed from the previous evening.

The chauffer took Yuki´s and Tsukushi's trunks to the car. Takeshi, knowing that now more then ever his former daughter in law would not enjoy his presence, remained in the car, patiently waiting for Yuki to take her proper good byes from her mother.

In the doorway of their house, Kagura embraced her daughter: "You take care! Remember that nobody can ever make you do something that you don't want to. If there's something or someone bothering you, call mom, okay?" Her voice was a little weepy and her hands trembled when she placed them on her daughter´s shoulders and looked straight into her eyes.

"Oh, mom, don't worry!" Yuki kissed and embraced her mother as well. "Summer will go by so fast; I'll be home in no time. You take care as well and please don't forget to have breakfast before your coffee…" she smiled at her mother. "I'll call you when we arrive."

Kagura released her daughter and embraced Tsukushi, whispering to her: "I leave Yuki in your care."

Tsukushi smiled conspiringly at Kagura and gave her a wink in assurance.

This situation was one of those in which not even a whole pack of cigarettes could make Kagura feel better. She still had troubles believing that all this was not a dream, even now, when she was standing in the alley in front of their house, still waving good bye at her daughter although the black car that took her away was not in sight anymore. In Kagura's mind this was all her fault. She had kept Yuki away for too long from the riches and benefits of being a member of the Takashimizu family, and now the poor girl couldn't help but be irremediably drawn to them. "Like a fly getting caught in a spider web." No, that's not it…She can't compare her daughter to a fly…Let's see…"Like a butterfly drawn to a flame." Yes, much better. Wait, weren't the moths the ones drawn to light bulbs? But moths were ugly butterflies. " Aah, that's no good either!" Even in her worst moments Kagura could not stop being a writer.

Like in a daze, she got in the house, lighted herself a cigarette and did the only thing left to do: call Shinichi.

To Shinichi's despair, he was forced to interrupt a dinner meeting with some possible future associates because of the damned phone which kept buzzing in his pocket. He took it and identified the number as his mother's. The young man inwardly sighed: miles away and he still couldn't escape his crazy family. He would have ignored it or turned off his phone in any normal circumstances. But this time he just decided to answer, maybe because the talk he had had the previous day with his little sister was still on his mind, she didn't seem her usual self. He excused himself and left the table. The moment he pushed the green button and took the phone to his ear, the crying voice of her mother was heard from the other end:

"Yuki…my Yuki, she…she…" he heard his mother's voice between sobs and cries.

"Mom, calm down! What are you saying?"

"Yuki…oh, Shinichi, you have to do something…" she kept babbling a bunch of words that did not make any sense.

By this time Shinichi's cold attitude had melted away, imagining the worst. His grip on the tiny mobile phone became so strong that the knuckles of his fingers turned white.

"Mom, you're scaring me. What's going on?"

"Your grandfather took her…he is forcing her to get married. Shinichi, please, do something! I won't have her married to some total stranger! Not my Yuki!"

Relieved that nothing had happened to his sister, he immediately regained his cool composure and asked his mother for more details. That was just what Kagura needed to start her very long narrative, telling all the story about Takeshi's "ridiculous dream" and complaining about Kazuo's "inability to do something for his daughter" and yada, yada, yada. Shinichi patiently waited for his mother to finish what she was saying, not paying attention to the whole of it, but spotting key words, such as his sister's name, the arranged marriage, the past between Takeshi and Shigure, Nikko, etc. And when he finally couldn't take it anymore, he stopped his mother by saying:

"Don't worry, I'll be in Japan in a week or so. I'll pay grandpa a visit and see what's all this for myself."

Kagura wanted to protest and quicken her son's trip to Nikko but, unlike Yuki, she couldn't influence Shinichi at all. He was too independent and estranged from her. So she complied and satisfied herself with just his promise.

As soon as the conversation ended, he immediately returned to the table.

"Sorry, gentlemen, family matters, you can't ignore them." Shinichi excused himself once again in a light, charming manner.

"The wife?" one of the others suit-and-tie men asked.

"Worse" joked Shinichi, "the mother".

After a round of polite and withheld laughs, the conversation did not take long to divert to their usual business talk, they weren't men to talk too much about family matters: it was neither the time nor the place. Despite that, his mother's words stayed with him the entire evening. Even now, alone in his office, he was thinking about the same thing. That was so like his mother: to over dramatize things and give him such a scare. For a moment he had thought he shouldn't have told her that he would go to Japan. Just so he could torment her a little, as a payback for the scare she gave him. The truth was Shinichi loved his parents, but he resented them as well. Kazuo for being a cold an insensitive father and Kagura for giving up on him too soon. Sometimes he felt the sting of envy towards his sister for being able to grow up with at least one of their parents. But that didn't stop him from loving Yuki the most. Ever since childhood, he felt the need to protect his little sister. He had kept in touch all these years. Even if their father hadn't visited regularly, Shinichi fulfilled Yuki's every wish just for her to know that in spite of their parents' divorce, they were still a family.

A knock on the door broke his chain of thoughts. The one that entered his office was Tiago, his assistant.

"Sir, here's the final report on the Café Preto merger. It is up to date. We have included ours and Preto's conditions of business. The papers will be ready in a couple of days."

"Excellent! So that means that by the end of the week we'll be able to sign the papers and get to business." replied Shinichi.

"Yes, sir."

Looking at the watch, Shinichi observed that it was already too late. He had kept his team over the schedule.

"Tiago, it is very late, we'll look over the report tomorrow. You are free. Good night!"

"Good night to you too, sir! Would you like me to call your chauffer?"

"Yes, Tiago, please do. I'll be leaving in an instant as well."

It seemed that he had lost track of time. He did not like to admit it, but the news had affected him. So much in fact, that he had lost concentration at work. He got up and took the report with him, which he read thoroughly on his way home. They had managed to impose on the Brazilian company and he was satisfied with the result of his and his team's hard work. The Café Preto merger was his triumph, it had been from the beginning his idea and his project. Kazuo did not agree with this, considering it too risky.

Shinichi closed the folder with a smirk; he would have loved to see his father's face right now. He too, like his father, was a fierce adversary in business; many saw him like a cold hearted bastard with an eye for deals. When it came to getting a contract he was merciless and did not care over whose corpse he stepped in the process. The important thing for him was always the contract, not the person who signed it.

But unlike his father, he knew the limit between private life and work. If there was one thing Shinichi despised the most that was to be compared to his father. He resented Kazuo for always putting work before his family, he hated to see his father always being away on business when he was a child, and he blamed his father's damned obsession with the company for the rupture of the family. His father never seemed to be able to balance these two worlds, he did not understand that besides the company there was his family as well. When Kagura left, Shinichi had been sent to a boarding school to be prepared as the next successor for one of the Japanese "empires" as Kazuo called his family business.

So he did the only thing he could do, study and hope that one day he would keep as far away from his crazy grandfather, obsessive father and somewhat instable mother. And he had succeeded. Now, at the age of twenty seven, he was a successful businessman, independent, confident, and as far away from his deranged family as possible. Because a womanizer grandfather, a workaholic father and an overly feminist mother were far from what you could call a normal family. The only one for whom he still had hopes was Yuki, who, probably, in her innocence, did not observe yet their family's abnormality. Although, now that he thought about it, being irremediably in love with some guy for almost five years couldn't exactly be considered a sign of normality either. And that was another aspect of the problem, she had been so infatuated with this man, who broke her heart without mercy over and over again (Shinichi had experienced first hand how depressed and melancholic his sister would be each time he disappointed her) that it could only be the desperation of him rejecting her affection the reason behind his sister's approval of this marriage. That or their grandfather was forcing her.

He didn't really care about the reasons. When faced with a problem, Shinichi's mind would skip the analysis of the motives that led to the creation of the problem, and jump directly to searching for methods to resolve it. This situation was no different. It did not matter to him if he had to put some sense into his obviously troubled sister or have an argument with his grandfather in order to stop this foolishness. He would just do it. By the time he got home his mind was made up: he would be the one to solve this, yet again.

The picture revealed to him after opening the door of his apartment was priceless. His girlfriend, Helen, was in the middle of the living room, with her back to him. In front of her there was a chevalier supporting her next masterpiece. She was looking at it with the tip of the paintbrush between her lips, covered in paint from head to toes (it was hard to say really which one bore more paint, her or the painting) and from time to time she would add some little detail to her work using her fingers.

"I didn't know the artistic process was such a messy business" he managed to say between laughter.

"It isn't, I'm special. Hello you!" she said before giving him a quick peck on the lips. And afterwards: "You're home late. Something happened at the office?"

"Yeah, I closed the deal with Café Preto."

"Really? Congratulations! Give me some time to bathe and dress and we'll go celebrate." But on seeing Shinichi sitting on the sofa, with his eyes closed and his index finger to his forehead, her enthusiasm disappeared, replaced by worry: "If you're too tired we'll celebrate at home. We'll cook something good."

"I'd rather we stayed at home. I'm tired, but it's not just that. There are too many things on my mind to enjoy myself tonight."

"What happened? What's wrong?" She was a little alarmed now and her voice conveyed all her worry.

"My mother called today. It seems that my little sister is forced, by internal or external reasons, into an arranged marriage. My grandfather asked her to fulfill a dream of his

and she accepted. And now she has to marry the Nishikado heir. Mom is desperate and doesn't know what to do, my father is not interfering as usual, and my grandfather doesn't think there is anything wrong with this idea. I'm going to Japan at the end of the week to end this madness. It seems that I am the only sane one of the family."

"Nishikado?...Hmm, I think I heard that name before." she said while busying herself with some vegetables in the kitchen.

"Of course you did. I think I mentioned to you a few times my grandfather's best friend, Nishikado Shigure."

"No, that's not it. I think it was Yuki the one that mentioned it to me. Wasn't it Nishikado the family name of the young man with whom she was in love with? Aaahhh…I don't remember the first name, what was it? S…Si…no, that's not it…So…

"Soujiroh, perhaps?"

"You know what? I think that was it, yes. Good thing you remembered or else it would have bugged me all night long." Helen said, smiling warmly at Shinichi.

"Helen, I haven't remembered. Soujiroh is also the name of one of Shigure's nephews."

"What are you saying? That Yuki is forced to marry the guy who broke her heart?"

"Not necessarily. As far as I know Shigure has two nephews, but the older one ran away from home, so…but no, it must be Soujiroh. The idea that his brother has miraculously reappeared and that now is forced to marry my sister is too farfetched."

"Do you think Yuki knows? Maybe that is why she agreed to it in the first place?"

"I don't know how much my grandfather told her, but surely she must realize that is not the way to make him love her, he'll only end up resenting her."

"I don't really like the fact that she is forced to marry anyone at all. An arranged marriage isn't a marriage at all. Look at my parents: they are like two strangers living in the same house. And I know you don't either. I think you should leave sooner. Don't worry about me…you've already missed her graduation .That will be the perfect excuse for your trip."

Shinichi frowned, he wasn't really keen on living. Helen had just come back from England, his schedule cleared up and this was supposed to be their time together. He glanced again at his girlfriend, but she just smiled at him and seemed sincere when she spoke again:

"A genius like you should have no problems in solving this quickly. Like this, you'll be back in no time and we can go on with our plans."

Tiago Gonçalves Dias was a man who treasured the little pleasures in life: such as, oh, let's say, SLEEPING. Thus, he did not appreciate the phone ringing at two in the morning. Tiago took the phone and prepared to swear at the poor bastard who had disrupted his sleep, when he heared his boss' voice coming from the other end of the line:

"Tiago, I know it's an inappropriate time, forgive my rudeness, but I wanted to ask you: is there any chance to speed up the final formalities for Café Preto? I have an urgent business to attend to in Japan."


	6. Chapter 5

Hello! Thank you so much to all those who read and reviewed the story, it means a lot to us. We promise that the story will develop eventually and we will get to the part that most of you are waiting for, but you need to have a little patience. Please bare with us! Enjoy!

Kriseis & Zaza

* * *

"_I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end_."

Margaret Thatcher

Most humans have some sort of morning ritual that helps them get ready for another day of adventure. Some spend hours in the shower, some like to read the morning paper while having a cup of coffee and others indulge in waking up late, getting dressed in a hurry and leaving the house in a mess after their departure.

Morning rituals were something Akira did not know much about. He usually got up around noon so all those little things he did afterwards could not count as a morning ritual since by the time he did them most people had finished eating lunch. It was still a mystery for him how Tsukasa had managed to wake up at the crack of dawn two night owls like Soujiroh and him. "Wake up" was just a mere expression, since neither Akira nor Soujiroh had slept the night before. They were just leaving a party when Domyouji called, telling them to be at the airport at seven o'clock that morning.

Tsukasa had been restless ever since the girls had left. He mentioned Tsukushi every five minutes and was more agitated than a drowning man. Akira supposed that for Domyouji, Tsukushi truly was the air, but even now he was still surprised by how much those two loved each other. They took care of each other, missed the other person when he or she was gone and even woke up three innocent boys at ungodly hours so that they could reach the loved one sooner. Wait! Was that a twinge of envy he felt just now? Neah, just his left leg getting painfully numb. It was time to change his position and try to rest his eyes for just a bit.

Akira moved a little in his seat while looking from the corner of the eye at Tsukasa. He could tell his friend was getting impatient, Tsukasa was nervously playing wit the skull-ring on his finger. Soon the bomb will explode and Akira needed to be prepared. So he closed his eyes and waited for the Sandman to come.

"Why haven't we left yet? We've been waiting for thirty minutes already! Must we really wait for this person?" Domyouji asked.

"Yes, we already agreed that she was coming along. Be patient!" Rui was the only one who had any energy left to answer Tsukasa.

"Yeah, but can't she be punctual? We're all waiting for her like servants. She could at least show some consideration." Tsukasa insisted.

"Shut your trap, Domyouji. She had been king enough to take an earlier flight, she must be tired and irritated after such a long trip, from Europe to Japan, and still she is willing to jump into another plane just so that she could be with me. The least I can do is wait for her for a few minutes. So stop complaining! This is import to me!"

Akira doubted that he had ever heard Rui talk so much at once. And was he suffering from hallucinations or did he really hear Rui raise his voice a little? And last sentence was truly unnecessary! They could all tell that this was very important to Rui. Well, all except Tsukasa apparently.

These thoughts were not shared with the other three young men, Akira didn't feel the need to do so. Even a private jet's seat was still an airplane seat, meaning that it was not very comfortable, but he was determined to get some sleep, however little, even if it was just five minutes. The true madness would begin only when Domyouji and Makino would meet again – she was bound to see through their shaky excuse of a bachelor's trip instead of a party and see it for what it was: Tsukasa's inability to spend time away from her – and Akira would have to somehow appease the fight that will surely follow.

For the third time that morning, he closed his eyes. He vaguely heard footsteps and realized that at last Rui's girlfriend had appeared. An internal battle between curiosity and sleep took place in his head for a few moments and maybe the wish for rest would have won had he not heard a very familiar voice say:

"Darling, I'm finally here! Oh, I've missed you so much! The trip seemed to never end! Oh, it was terrible!"

Akira quickly opened his eyes, just to make sure his ears were not failing him. He was tired indeed, but not tired enough to hear voices from the past. There were no problems with his hearing though; in front of him some woman was hugging Rui. For a moment he mused that somebody should tell her that his friend will need his ribs in the future also and that she shouldn't attempt to break them. But then his focus returned to the familiarity of the voice. He couldn't be wrong, that voice was unmistakable: that woman was Shigeru. But wasn't she hugging the wrong guy? As far as he knew, Shigeru had been engaged and all over Tsukasa, and not their silent, brooding friend. Something was fishy here.

Akira was definitely awake now, although he did not why he was standing all of a sudden. Looking around him, he saw he was not the only one: all of the other F3 were up too; an instinctive reaction to the shock they were all experiencing. But Rui had gotten up to embrace and be embraced by Shigeru, and Akira couldn't help but notice that they kind of looked good together in that position. No … no… definitely, fatigue brought out the weirdest ideas in people.

He wasn't the only one confused or at loss for words. Tsukasa resembled a fish, mouth open and all big-eyed, looking from Rui and Shigeru to Akira and Soujiroh and the other way around, trying to make sure his friends were seeing the same thing as him. And Soujiroh was quite fascinated with the scene, but was also smiling a little, probably musing to himself about the irony of life. Akira decided that it was time to say something:

"Shigeru, nice to see you again! How was your trip?"

The young woman let go of Rui and turned around, facing the other men whose presence only now she acknowledged. Her hair was a little longer, the usual cheerful attitude but you could see on her face that she was tired. Nonetheless, she smiled and answered:

"Akira, Soujiroh, Tsukasa, good to see you all again! Thank you so much for inviting me on this trip, is the perfect occasion for me and darling to spend some time together!"

She smiled some more, this time in Rui's direction and he couldn't help but return her smile.

The initial shock being over, Tsukasa returned to his idea: "Good, now that you're here we can finally leave."

"In just a little while. They are still loading my luggage."

A little proved to be more than half an hour. Akira thought that Tsukasa was going to have a heart attack, but the Domyouji heir kept his mouth shut. His mind seemed to be elsewhere, probably in Nikko. He wasn't really paying attention or participating to the conversation.

The one who seemed to forget all about his lack of sleep, was Soujiroh, who, seated across from Shigeru and Rui, was asking all kinds of questions. Not an unusual thing, Akira thought, seeing that not even he could understand what those two could have in common. The Mimasaka heir knew that if people could lie their body language couldn't. So he was trying to understand the peculiar couple in front of him by observing their gestures.

Shigeru was the one answering all the questions – no surprise there, Rui had always been the strong silent type of guy – while Rui seemed to pay no attention whatsoever to Soujiroh, looking through the small window of the plane. Akira noticed though, that his left hand was resting in Shigeru's lap, playing with the fingers of her right hand, and smiling from time to time, maybe reminiscing about their first few encounters, while Shigeru narrated them out loud. Now that he was looking better, Akira noticed that Shigeru seemed to be somehow different too. She seemed to be a calmer, more focused person, a little less impulsive and more grown up. Sure, she had almost suffocated Rui when she first saw him – an effusion of feeling characteristic of the Shigeru they all knew – but since then she didn't smother him at all. Instead she seemed to borrow some of Rui's calmness and was perfectly content with the small proofs of affection that her darling gave her. But from time to time she turned her head towards him, as to make sure he was still there, smiling when seeing him next to her, and always looking in his eyes when speaking to him.

Akira had to admit that his first impression was still standing: they did make a cute couple and that was surely a result of the sheer happiness that emanated from those two. Apparently love had that effect on people … Once again, Akira found himself musing on how quickly things could change: Tsukasa would get married in a few months, Rui was clearly in love, Soujiroh would always have Yuki – no matter what she said, Akira was certain that she would always love Soujiroh – but who did he have? He needed a person whom he didn't have to share with someone else – usually an unsuspecting husband who would probably want to break some of Akira's bones had he known his wife was cheating on him- that would only care for him, no matter what people said.

Ah, again with the self-pity! He had a predisposition for that today, didn't he? Well, since he didn't have enough time to sleep on the plane and he had no mood to analyze his own life, especially his love life, he kept himself busy with musings about his friends. He was glad to see Rui happy. For a while, he had doubted that he would ever see his friend smile again, just as he had doubted that Rui had really gotten over Tsukushi. But Shigeru was here with him now, and her presence seemed to have erased both Shizuka and Tsukushi from his mind. Two relationships that were meant to fail in Akira's reasoning. There were no doubts Shizuka cared about Rui, but their relation had been a complicated one from the start. She had always been too independent, too focused on her future, on her career, and he had always been patiently waiting to play a bigger part in her life. But even Rui was bound to get tired of always waiting.

Tsukushi had been different, she had never been his, since it was clear from the beginning, from that very first punch she gave Tsukasa, that those two were meant for each other. Rui and Tsukushi's relationship could never work, for the simple reason that they were not what the other needed and they were too much alike. Both so shy and down to earth, they needed someone to bring some adventure and chaos into their lives. That's what Shigeru and Tsukasa did for them. Makino was an exceptional person though and Akira didn't blame his friend from falling in love with her.

And now, Shigeru. He wondered if she would be the one to last, the one who would make a difference. And in searching his conscience, Akira found out that he had been wrong, the situation was not awkward at all. Tsukasa wasn't bothered by it, why would he be? He never really cared about Shigeru. Soujiroh was more curious and amused than anything. The love birds obviously didn't care about anyone's opinion. And he … well, he had already made up his mind: they were an enchanting couple, just like Makino and Domyouji.

xxx

Tsukushi looked at the view that her room´s window offered. Such a magnificent landscape! She opened one of the windows and filled her lugs with fresh air. Just what she needed, some tranquil days away from the Tokyo hustle. Although she had not forgotten the purpose of this trip, she was eager to explore the resort. Yesterday, when they had arrived, it was already too late to go in town, besides they had to unpack their stuff and accommodate themselves with the new environment. As soon as they arrived at the Takashimizu mansion, they had been welcomed by an army of servants. The atmosphere was not strange for Tsukushi, already accustomed to Tsukasa's way of life. And in spite of the humble and overly respectful attitude that the servants had towards Yuki, Tsukushi did not notice any change in her friend's behavior. She was still the same Yuki, who smiled warmly to everybody and thanked politely for everything she asked and was given. Such a clear difference from her Tsukasa … Speaking about Tsukasa, he seemed so lively and happy when she had called him this morning. It's not that she wanted him to be sad but wasn't he missing her? Strange …

Tsukushi left the room and headed towards Yuki's. It had been a really funny episode when Yuki entered for the first time in her room. A pinkish large room decorated in a princess like manner, with a large bed filled with plush teddy bears and other funky animals. "I guess grandpa still sees me like a little girl" had been Yuki's few words … Giggling at the memory of her friend's embarrassed expression, Tsukushi proceeded on the long hallway. Just when she was about to reach her friend's room, a big portrait at the end of the stairways caught her attention. A drawing of an elegant, beautiful lady with tender eyes and soft features.

"Late Mrs. Takashimizu was such a beautiful lady and such a good master!" came the comment of the butler, who seemed to appear out of the bloom, startling poor Tsukushi.

"So, this lady in the portrait is Yuki's grandmother?" asked Tsukushi.

" Yes, Miss Makino, you are right. The portrait was ordered for Mrs. Takashimizu's thirty fifth birthday and is Mr Takashimizu's most treasured possessions. Oh, the days when Madam lived! Those were the days …" sighed Hisoka and continued in a melancholic tone: "… happiness and serenity surrounded the Takashimizu family …" he failed to finish his account upon seeing Yuki exiting her room.

"Please continue Hisoka. You know how much I love to hear you talk about grandma …" asked Yuki smiling cheerfully to the now sober butler.

"It might bring little miss sadness …" replied Hisoka.

" Nonsense, grandma's memory could never bring me sadness … oh Hisoka …" Yuki changed her tender smile into a shrewd one " … now that I found you here I have a favor to ask you."

"At your service Miss Yuki." He bowed politely.

"I want to prepare grandpa a delicious breakfast …"

Like stroked by lighting and trying to maintain his sober composure, the old butler protested: "But Miss Yuki, our chef is already in charge of this …"

"But it's not the same … I want grandpa to eat a breakfast made with all my love … pleeease Hisoka, you've got to help me with this. You know Maurice won't let me into his kitchen. Distract him just for a little while …" begged Yuki, puppy face at the poor old butler.

"Oh Miss Yuki … You know I can't deny one of little miss' wishes." sighed Hisoka, not giving up his sober countenance, but slightly smiling to his little miss.

Witnessing this scene, Tsukushi could barely keep from laughing. " … Poor old sentimental Hisoka, nobody was immune to Yuki's puppy eyes." she thought.

xxx

… _CRASH, BOOM, BANG … "Mademoiselle Yuki … laissez moi vous aide" … "Don't worry I can manage by myself." … "Mais non Mademoiselle, Monsieur Takashimizu" … "Please Maurice, go take some rest I can handle it in the kitchen" … "Oh, mon Dieux" … "Now go Maurice!" … "C'est n'est pas possible! Mon Dieux! Mon Dieux!"_

The noise from the kitchen could be heard all the way to the terrace.

"Hisoka, what's going on? Why all the commotion?'

"Please do not worry sir, it is just a minor case of territorial pride" answered the butler pouring his master a cup of coffee and handing him the morning paper. The usual routine for Hisoka, serving his master the black coffee and newspaper, than leaving him reading the paper in the tranquility of his garden. But this was no ordinary morning. True, it was noisier than any ordinary one, but having Miss Yuki here really brought this house back to life. One thing was clear, monotony was surely gone, along with poor Maurice's tranquility of course. It seemed that Miss Yuki was determined to monopolize the kitchen this morning.

"Oh, so you say …" Takeshi took the paper, took a sip of coffee, raising an eyebrow more intrigued than ever.

Seeing that his master was not entirely satisfied with the answer, Hisoka continued. "Miss Yuki decided to prepare master his breakfast. Now we are witnessing an authentic battle between Chef Maurice and little miss …"

"Than it seems that my little Yuki-chan is in higher spirits today …" Takeshi nodded in assessment, trying to hide his amusement with a cough. Poor Maurice, he really pitied him. Even though Yuki was a shy and sensible person, when she was determined to do something nothing could stand in her way, she was a Takashimizu after all. There was no doubt on who will win this kitchen battle.

After a while he saw his dear granddaughter coming to the terrace carrying his breakfast triumphantly, accompanied by her friend who seemed to carry a tray with glasses and a bottle with juice. On seeing his little miss coming, Hisoka hurried to help her. Yuki, knowing that it would be terrible to deny the old butler the right of serving his master, gave him the tray with the rich breakfast while she offered to help Tsukushi.

"Oh my! What a fancy breakfast! I have a feeling that I'm going to be spoiled quite a lot this summer …"

Yuki smiled to her grandfather and frowned, nodding while looking at the coffee cup placed in front of her grandfather: "That's what I tell mother all the time. You can't drink coffee on an empty stomach. Please, grandfather have some breakfast first. You must know, breakfast is the most important meal of the day …"

"With such a delightful company, how can I refuse? Please, my dear ladies, have some chairs and join me. Breakfast is always better in good company."

The girls took their places at the round table while one of the maids began to serve them under the careful directions of the butler.

"So how are you girls enjoying the stay here so far?"

"It is wonderful Mr. Takashimizu. There is so much nature and tranquility in this place. I really needed such a vacation." was Tsukushi's honest answer.

"I am glad to hear it. But please, why such formality? Beautiful girls call me uncle." said the old man with an enchanting smile "So do you girls have any plans for today?"

Tsukushi smiled and nodded in agreement "Yes" and then turned to Yuki, who was enjoying her breakfast in absolute silence, more than probably lost in thoughts.

"Yuki, you said you wanted to take me somewhere after breakfast? …Yuki?"

"Ah, yes Tsukushi, you were saying …" answered Yuki a little distracted.

"I asked you where are we planning to go after breakfast … you said you wanted to go somewhere." repeated Tsukushi.

"Yuki are you okay? Is there something bothering you?" asked the grandfather a little worried by her distraction.

"Oh, I'm fine grandpa …" giggled Yuki a little embarrassed "I got a little lost in my thoughts. It happens to me sometimes" and then smiled to Tsukushi, who had given her an all knowingly look "Tsukushi is already well acquainted with my little escapades to the dream world."

Takeshi smiled, it was so typical of his granddaughter. "Do you want Hisoka to prepare one of the cars?" he asked, ready to call the butler.

"Oh no grandpa, there's no need for that. We are planning to take a walk to the city. On our way there I'm planning to show Tsukushi the place you were taking Nii-san and me when we were little."

"It is a good idea. The temple's gardens are wonderful this time of the year" replied Takashimizu with pride.

Tsukushi looked at her friend with sincere curiosity and was about to ask something when she was interrupted by Hisoka's arrival.

"Takashimizu-sama " came the butler with a phone on a tray " … a phone call for you sir … From your friend sir." added Hisoka with an expression of conspiracy on his face. Hisoka was anything but subtle.

"Thank you, Hisoka. Please excuse me girls. I must take this call in my study. The breakfast was delicious. Please have a nice day."

xxx

Nikko was a charming, quiet town, not nearly as big as Tokyo, so the chances that even two girls such as Yuki and Tsukushi, who totally lacked any sense of orientation, would get lost, were minimal. And it was a truly beautiful day, warm without being too hot, sunny and lazy, the perfect day to wonder around town without a clear aim. Tsukushi was just about to follow Yuki in one of the little shops, when the very annoying sound of a car suddenly stopping, was heard. That screeching, too painful for your ears, bound to immediately irritate you sound made Tsukushi turn around, frown already on her face. She had thus the chance to see that in fact there were two cars: one had stopped, presumably without signaling that it was going to do so, and the second car almost hit the first. It was a miracle that it didn't, but the commotion was highly unusual for such a tranquil place as Nikko, so the passers by had stopped and were looking at the two luxurious cars, maybe waiting to see who was the reckless driver.

"Fool" muttered Tsukushi, turning around, determined to enter the shop and take a closer look at the earrings Yuki was showing her from inside. But she had to stop since the unimaginable happened:

"Makino! Yo Makino! Fancy meeting you here! Seems that great minds think the same since we both chose this place to spend our holiday!"

That voice was too familiar. Granted, she had missed him tremendously in the past day and a half … Tsukushi smiled for a second, thinking nobody saw her, then turned around and faking to be upset, did what she knew best: scolded Tsukasa.

"What great mind? Surely not yours, I've told you I was going to Nikko. Are you following me?"

"Really?" asked Tsukasa with an innocent _I did not eat the cream _face "Totally slipped my mind. I'm just here with the guys, spending our summer together."

As if on queue, three heads appeared through the windows of the cars" Hey Makino! So happy to see us you're speechless or the cat got your toungue?" a cheerful Akira said. Rui and Soujiroh just smiled.

"Hi guys!" and than turning towards Tsukasa: "Didn't we decide to spend at least some of this summer apart?"

Luck was on Tsukasa's side today. Before he got the chance to answer Tsukushi, one of the limo's doors opened swiftly and an over ecstatic Shigeru jumped out of the car to greet Tsukushi.

"Tsukushi-chan! It's been a century since I last saw you! I missed you like hell!" squeaked Shigeru while embracing the poor shocked Tsukushi.

"Ah … ah … nice to meet you too Shigeru" managed a very confused Tsukushi, looking at her fiancée as if she were asking why there was a mad woman hugging her.

"Wasn't it nice of the guys to invite me also on this trip? Imagine the two of us together having such a great time: we can go shopping, double dating, go to hot springs, visit the Botanical Garden …YUKI-chan!! You're here also? The boys hadn't told me!" Shigeru was beginning to resemble the energizer bunny, split between the desire to go and give a hug to Yuki and scolding the boys for keeping things secret from her. She decided on the former, so Yuki too, received a bear hug. She seemed as confused as Tsukushi, but she was too polite to ask out loud what was the third girl doing in Nikko. So Yuki just greeted her and the boys, smiling warmly and trying to hide her bewilderment.

By this time all of the other boys had gotten out of the cars, Rui coming close to Shigeru and putting his right arm around her waist, while both Akira and Soujiroh, standing next to Tsukasa were smiling and winking at the girls.

Feeling Rui's arm around her, Shigeru turned her head towards him and said: "Look darling! The girls were shopping for jewelry! Shouldn't we go shopping also?"

"Shopping? Aren't you the last bit tired? You just got back from Europe." Rui answered.

"Tired? Not really. But I suppose it would be impolite if we didn't go and greet Soujiroh's grandparents first. And they had been so nice allowing us to all stay at their new mansion! So, we'll go there first and afterwards we can hit the town, right darling?"

"Yes, if that's what you want!" said Rui, shaking his head a little amazed at his girlfriend's never ending energy.

All this was a little too much for Tsukushi who, before she knew what she was doing, blurted out: "So you two are together now?" Sure, under normal circumstances she would have found a more subtle way to ask this, but these were not exactly normal circumstances and nobody was explaining anything to her. She felt her patience running low. But neither Rui nor Shigeru seemed bothered at all by the question. It was Shigeru the one to first answer her:

"Yes, for almost three years now."

"Actually something more like two years and three moths." stated Rui.

"Oh darling, it doesn't matter. It's more than two so it's practically three years." And then turning to Tsukushi and Yuki: "It was so romantic! We met in Prague, in this charming little restaurant on the shore of the Danube river …"

"The river was in fact Vlatava" interrupted Rui again.

Shigeru just smiled at him and continued: "The sun was just setting, but on every table of the restaurant, and the lights were low, making a perfect atmosphere. And then we saw each other and it was love at first sight!"

Rui's voice was heard again: "Hardly. If I remember correctly you came to seat at my table and I just asked you to please leave me alone since I was reading a very interesting book about medieval fortresses in Europe."

"Yes, but you did it in such a romantic, enchanting manner …" she sighed melancholically and than returned to her energetic self: "Alright, so maybe it took a little effort to make you put the book aside and enjoy the meal and my company, but in the end it turned out to be a great evening didn't it?"

This time Rui just smiled. Tsukushi noticed that all the other boys were smiling or giggling still paying attention to Shigeru's story even though they had probably heard it all before.

"Rui was the first one to leave Prague" began Shigeru "but everywhere I went I kept meeting him."

"Wow Shigeru-chan, talk about coincidences!" noticed Yuki.

"Tell me about it! And to think that you always got in the town I was going to visit before me, like you somehow knew my route …" added Rui.

Shigeru smiled yet again, resembling very much a Cheshire cat, and said: "I have no idea what you are implying. Fate decided that we should meet and it wasn't long before we became couple" she finished the story.

"Such a romantic story Shigeru-chan" cooed Yuki.

But there was something bothering Tsukushi: "If this has been going on for over two years, why haven't you said anything?"

This time Rui was serious when he answered: "I didn't really find a good time; we haven't spent too much time together, the all of us, in the last two years. And it seemed strange to tell you about it over the phone or in an e-mail."

"And it was partly my fault too" added Shigeru "I wanted to be with Rui when he was going to tell you, but business kept me in Europe and I didn't have the chance to return to Japan. Until now, and this is as good a time as any to tell you, isn't it?"

Tsukushi smiled and looked at the couple in front of her. Well this is something she had never anticipated.

It was time for Soujiroh to intervene: "I'm not saying that standing in the middle of the sidewalk, listening to love stories is not fun but I haven't slept at all last night and I would love a cup of tea. So how about we go to my grandparents' house and we finish catching up there. Makino, Yuki you two should come also. I'm sure they would love to meet you as well."

Since Soujiroh was making sense, that was exactly what they did. They all got in the two cars and headed for the too much talked about new Nishikado mansion .


	7. Chapter 6

Dear readers, we have been more productive than usual lately so you get to enjoy yet another chapter. It is slightly longer than what we usually post but we hope you´ll have the patience to read till the end. Don´t hate us for the cliffhanger!

Kriseis & Zaza

"_Who can surprise well must conquer."_

John Paul Jones

The moment they set foot in front of the Nishikado mansion, they had been greeted, of course, by the usual army of servants that had immediately rushed to take care of the luggage and welcome the most important guests. But what caught the attention of the crowd were not the servants, a usual sight by now, but the elder lady who had welcomed them with the cheeriest face and an energetic attitude and who, as soon as she saw her nephew, had jumped to greet him with a tight and warm embrace.

"Oh Soujiroh, I've missed you so much. If you hadn't come this week I would have gone back to Tokyo to see you …"

"Me too grandma … I've missed you too …" a squished Soujiroh managed to say, hoping that this rather embarrassing scene would end soon.

Tsukushi and Shigeru giggled, giving nudges to one another, while Tsukasa and Rui exchanged amused glances.

Akira and Yuki, who till then had busied themselves with uncountable shopping bags that the girls had inexplicably succeeded to gather in town, observed with astonishment and somewhat amusement the awkward (especially for Yuki who had never seen Soujiroh in that position before) and embarrassing situation a playboy like Soujiroh was in.

Leaning over to Yuki's ear, Akira whispered in a bemused tone: "I must go to my friend's rescue."

Yuki giggled and standing on her tiptoes in order to get closer to Akira´s right ear whispered to him: "Go … I think he is rather desperate …" Her words could not be truer because Soujiroh looked like was going to explode at any time.

"Mrs. Nishikado …" Akira called letting go of Yuki's waist " …long time no see. You look younger than the last time I saw you if that's possible. I must admit that I have missed your entertaining company. But what a marvelous house and the scenery is fantastic …"

"Oh thank you Mimasaka, gallant as always. And you have indeed a good eye. Isn't the view wonderful? Wait till you see the terrace …"

"I can't wait" Akira went along with the flatteries that were his trademark when it came to women. He really knew how to make a person feel special. "I understand the house is a gift from your husband"

"Oh yes, he's such a dear …"

Soujiroh sighed in relief, seeing that his grandmother's full attention was now focused on Akira's compliments.

As they entered the house they were welcomed by Soujiroh's grandfather who had just come in from a tea ceremony and was still wearing a kimono. The old man greeted the young crowd and putting an arm on his grandson's shoulder's guided him to the terrace.

"Glad you could come … one more day and your grandmother would …" he whispered to Soujiroh.

"What are you two talking about over there?" asked Mrs. Nishikado suspicious, and then turned smiling to the others: "They are always like this, keeping secrets from me" …"Oh look kids, isn't the view wonderful?" Mrs Nishikado changed the subject as soon as they stepped onto the terrace.

"It is!" the girls exclaimed in unison, squeaking amazed by the wonderful spectacle nature displayed in front of their eyes.

"Please make yourselves comfortable. In a while your rooms will be ready and you'll be able to have a well deserved rest." added Mr. Nishikado taking a seat next to his wife.

"Yes, my husband is right, you must rest, a trip is always tiring … Oh but where is my mind? I ordered five rooms to be prepared and you are seven. I will immediately remediate this …" said Mrs. Nishikado preparing to call a maid.

"Oh no, Mrs. Nishikado, Tsukushi and I already have a place to stay …" Yuki reacted quickly noticing the old woman's distress.

"Yes" confirmed Akira "Tsukasa could not bare to stay separated from his fiancée anymore so we had to sequestrate them." Pointing to the F4 leader who stayed retreated in one corner of the terrace, having Tsukushi by his side.

"Oh yes, I totally forgot to make the presentation" said Soujiroh, coming with a glass of iced tea which he handed to Yuki.

"Thank you Soujiroh" said Yuki, taking the glass and smiling at him.

"You're welcome." He smiled at her as well, which made Yuki's heart tumble for a second. And then got back to what he was saying. "I took for granted the fact that you already know the guys. So, the girl over there clinging to Rui's arm is Okawahara Shigeru, you must know her from the social pages, the girl that Tsukasa won´t let go of at the moment, as you must have guessed, is his fiancée, Makino Tsukushi, of which you've definitely heard … and Matsuoka Yuki" pointing to the girl seated next to Akira." … Tsukushi's best friend"

Oh so that was why Yuki's face seemed so familiar to Shigure. She was Takeshi's granddaughter. Now that he looked with more attention, he could spot some common traits. But no, the girl had more from her grandmother than from his crazy friend. Yes, definitely she was more Kinu than Takeshi, her character was definitely her grandmother's.

"Oh, so you are …" Shigure found himself addressing to Yuki, with a smile on his face that said _now I get it_, but he was abruptly interrupted by a fierce pain induced to his right foot. His wife should definitely give up wearing high heels; it was bad for her health and for his wellbeing too. He quickly looked at Madoka. She had that subtle smile that said: _If you say one more word I will kill you_, so he had one thing to do, turn the conversation in another direction: "Kagura Matsuoka's daughter or is it just a name coincidence?" Shigure tried to seem interested.

Yuki blinked twice, but nevertheless replied to the old man: "It is no coincidence. Kagura Matsuoka is indeed my mother" From where did Soujiroh's grandfather know her mother? Was it too impolite to ask?

"My wife loves her column. She made it a habit to read it out loud every week. Isn't that so sweetheart?"

"Oh yes, yes. It is true. Such good and powerful articles." Mrs. Nishikado played along.

After this, the conversation diverted from one subject to another, from women's magazines to social pages, from social pages to gossip, from there – nobody knew how – to the way Rui and Shigeru met, to life in Europe and down the memory lane again on the years Mrs. Nishikado spent with her husband in Paris.

"Aaah, those were the days!" Mrs. Nishikado sighed remembering her youthful past and smiling to her husband. And, as if awakening from her memories, she changed her melancholic mood with a more energetic one and exclaimed: "Look at the time, it passes so fast! We'll leave you kids alone. I am sure you have many things to discuss between yourselves. Come, dear!"

Not long after the grandparents left, the group divided. Rui and Shigeru mysteriously vanished, without the others noticing, while Tsukushi and Tsukasa retreated to a more private place to talk. The only ones left on the terrace were Yuki, Akira and Soujiroh. Good thing the birds in the trees were singing because the silence would have been overwhelming. Sensing that neither Yuki nor Soujiroh would start a conversation, Akira volunteered to break the silence. It was not in his nature to stay quiet for too long.

"So, Yuki … tell us more about your fiancé…"

Yuki, who was just taking a sip of tea, spilled it out immediately, choking upon hearing Akira's question.

Soujiroh, seeing the poor girl in distress, gave a quick _"Are you insane?"_ glance to Akira and raised to help Yuki. Akira was nearer to Yuki though and rushed to give the poor girl the much needed help before suffocating:

"Woooh … Yuki-chan, take it easy, it's not like I've asked you about your sex life or anything." joked Akira patting Yuki on the back.

"It's okay, thanks Akira!" said Yuki regaining her breath but feeling the blood rush to her cheeks thanks to Akira's commentary. She wasn't supposed to, but she felt awkward talking about such things in front of Soujiroh. Though looking at him she observed that the topic seemed to arise no interest in him. He seemed as passive as the rocks nearby. "I gather he is fine" replied Yuki to Akira, who was still waiting for an answer.

"So, when will we get the chance to meet him? Is he here? Oh, you're so bad Yuki. How could you keep such big news from us?" continued Akira with the interrogation, looking from the corner of the eye at Soujiroh. He had seen the glance Soujiroh gave him when he asked about her fiancé; he knew it bothered him, even though he did not recognize it. How long will his passive _I don't have a care in the world_ attitude last? Akira was really curious to find out.

Well, Akira was very inquisitive today. When she answered the first question, Yuki thought that that would satisfy him and that they would switch to another topic. But no, the interrogation seemed to carry on. "Yes, he is in Nikko. I guess I will introduce him to you soon."

"And who is he? Do we know him?"

Oh no, he kept going! This was getting hard to answer, not even she knew who her fiancé was, she didn't even know his name. "Oh Yuki, you should have asked grandpa at least this!" she scolded herself mentally. "No, I don't think you know him." she replied out loud. Luckily the answer was evasive enough. So far so good. She obviously could not tell Akira and the others that this was an arranged marriage; she had been scolded enough by Tsukushi.

As the questions continued, Yuki's answers became more and more evasive and Akira noticed. These were not the answers of an enthusiastic bride to be; in fact Yuki was not enthusiastic at all. Hmmm … something was rotten in the state of Denmark and he had to find out the source of the "stench". He was sure that Yuki still loved Soujiroh. Than why marry some other guy?

There was another person nearby with the same question in mind. As Soujiroh listened to Akira and Yuki's conversation, or better Akira's interrogation, he noticed Yuki's awkwardness. It was perfectly clear that Yuki was trying desperately to escape the subject. Was it because of his presence? But if Yuki was marrying another guy that meant that her feelings for him were already gone. Or weren't they? She did not seemed happy, not even a little bit enthusiastic. Why was she marrying this guy? Oh and why the hell Akira kept nagging Yuki? Wasn't it clear that she didn't want to talk about it?

Soujiroh rose from the couch and headed to pour himself something to drink. This situation had gotten to his nerves. Was he jealous? No, it must be the lack of sleep that made him cranky. Maybe he should retire for today. Anyway he had to accompany his grandparents to one of his grandfather's old friends. A good rest before that would be perfect. He had to get back to his charming mood.

"Guys, I think I'll retire to my room. Please feel at home. Bye Yuki-chan, it was nice to see you again!" He gave Yuki one of his charming smiles and Akira a pat on the shoulder and left the terrace.

On seeing him leave, Akira felt a little disappointed. When he had seen Soujiroh rising swiftly from the couch, he thought that he was finally going to say something; hell, he thought that he would come and kick his ass for tormenting Yuki. But no. Was his friend this insensitive? He sighed and turned his attention back to Yuki, who still had her glance focused on the terrace's exit.

"Yuki" said Akira turning more serious "are you sure you want to get married?'

She looked at him with amazed eyes. What was with Akira asking this so suddenly? He seemed serious now, he wasn't joking anymore. Yuki took a deep breath, put a brave smile on her face and answered: "Of course I am, don't be silly." And then lowered her head and looked at her wristwatch: "Look at the time. I'd better find Tsukushi."

"Okay, see you tomorrow!" replied Akira retaking his casual mood in front of Yuki; but as soon as she left he fell on thoughts again. A frown could be seen on his forehead. Clearly there was more to it than Yuki told them and he will find out what.

xxx

In a quiet corner of the garden, under a willow tree, seated on two chaise-lounges were Makino and Domyouji. Tsukushi seemed pensative and struggling between mixed emotions. "It´s unfair!" she thought, " this was supposed to be my last vacation as a single woman, away from the hustle of the wedding planning, and, why not, Tsukasa. We´ll spend the rest of our lives together, is it too much to ask for a few weeks alone?"

" It´s unfair! Unbelievable!" she screamed just for the sake of old times, of those days at Eitoku Academy, when she used to yell the same thing from the spot on the emergency stairs.

" Makino!" retorted her future spouse, " I´m right next to you, there´s no need to scream. Do you want a deaf husband? I think my left ear has been permanently damaged!"

"Never mind that! What are you doing here, Tsukasa? And don´t you dare lie to me!"

"What do you mean? I´ve told you, I´m here on a trip with the guys!"

"Oh really?! From all the places in the world, you´ve chose Nikko. Where you knew I was. Do you think I´m stupid and that I wouldn´t have realised you were lieing?"

"And so what if I did? Aren´t you happy to see me?"

For his part, Tsukasa was extatic. After all he had been through, he was finally in Nikko. And what sheer luck to meet Makino just like that, on the street, so soon after arriving in town.

"That´s not the point, Tsukasa!" Makino appeared a little exasperated. As usual, they didn´t see things in the same manner. "We had a deal. I wanted you to respect it and me! And what do you do? A day and a half later you break the deal!"

"And way too long it was!" said Tsukasa giving her a nudge or two. "C´mon, Makino, there´s no need to hide it. I know you´ve missed me! And who can blame you? I am the most awsome man after all!"

Tsukushi didn´t answer, she just looked at her fiancé for a while, like this was actually the first time she saw him since he arrived in Nikko. From his curly hair, to the playful grin on his face, to his casual but highly expensive clothes, to his royal demeanour and his way to fill up any room with his presence, he was still very much the man she fell in love with. The man she had missed ever since leaving Tokyo, although she tried to hide it because she was Tsukushi, a tough weed and she did not behave like a love-sick puppy. But was she going to tell him that, so that he could gloat even more and become even more full of himself? No, not this time. She had a whole life ahead of her to do that. For now she would just tease him a little. A girl has to have some fun afterall. So she retorted:

"Miss you? Please, don´t make me laugh! You´re the one coming after me, so who´s missing who?"

"Ah, Makino! Is that any way to treat me? I rushed over precisely so you won´t fall ill of missing me so much." Domyouji said, getting up from the chaise-lounge and seating himself next to Tsukushi on her chair, one arm on her shoulders and his head resting on hers. They looked just like any normal couple, enjoying a sunny day after a quarrel, not like the famous "Trouble Couple". Her anger seemed to have melted away when he had touched her, and resting her head on his shoulder, she asked:

"Did you know about Rui and Shigeru?"

"Not until this morning. She just showed up on the plane and declared to be his girlfriend. And he agreed! I always thought he was visiting Shizuka in Europe. I didn´t expect he was seeing the Monkey!"

"Don´t call her that anymore! Remember how she helped us! And besides, respect your friend´s girlfriend!"

Just at that moment, Yuki appeared telling Tsukushi that it was time to head back home if she was to get ready for dinner. So the girls left, promising to all meet tomorrow and go in town.

xxx

Now that they were alone in the study room, Shigure had to ask his wife why she hadn´t let him tell Yuki that he and her grandfather were good old friends.

" So, tell me my sweetheart, what wrong has my foot done for you to inflict such pain to it?"

" I am sorry dear, but it was the only way to stop you from saying what you intended to say."

"Huh..." looking at his wife suspiciously he replied " What plan has that little head of yours come up with now?"

" None yet, but we couldn´t reveal to Yuki that we are Takeshi´s friends. She would have immediately realize that the one she is to be engaged with is none other than Soujiroh."

" You are right, darling, but the kids are going to find out about it anyway..."

" Yes, but if Soujiroh would have found out earlier, he would have hit the road back to Tokyo in an instant. It is better for them to get the news in a much more formal enviroment. And besides, darling..." Madoka paused, trying to find her words. Shigure waited patiently and anxiously for his wife to continue, it was not in her character to stop in the middle of a sentence. "...I am not sure about the meeting tonight. I think we should wait a little while longer."

" But why do such a thing? Now that I met Takeshi´s granddaughter I am more convinced than ever that those two should get married. Yuki would make a good wife for our Soujiroh." Now Shigure was worried. It couldn´t be that his own lovely wife was againt this long awaited for accomplishment of their dream.

" I know, Yuki is such a sweet girl, and she reminds so much of Kinu! I am absolutely certain that she would manage to get under Soujiroh´s skin."

"See, you agree with me...and besides, they already know each other. It is better, they are friends...

"That´s what worries me, sweetheart... that same friendship. Like you said, it is so hard to find good friends these days. Soujiroh is lucky to have so many friends around him..."

"Dear, I´m perplexed. What does friendship have to do with the kids getting married?" asked Shigure, more confused than ever.

"It has, sweety. Have you seen Yuki and Akira? They seemed so close, like a couple. What if those two are together? Do you realize what that would mean? If we go ahead with our plans to marry our grandson to Yuki but she is in fact Akira´s girlfriend...We cannot let that happen again..."

"I see your point..." stated Mr. Nishikado, disappointment written on his face. "I haven´t thought of that. It is not my intention to cause any kind of trouble between Soujiroh and his friends. We should investigate first. And if those two really are together I´ll talk to Takeshi and give up on our plans..."

Mrs. Nishikado sighed. Her poor husband! He looked like a child whose favourite toy got broken. Such a sad sight! She went to him with a cheerful, encouraging smile and placed her hands on his: "Don´t worry, I shall find out the truth. There is still hope. If things turn out well, our grandson will have Yuki as his fiancée tonight, as planed. Leave it to me..."

xxx

Standing in front of her bedroom window overlooking the garden, Mrs. Nishikado was unusually silent and serious. To an outsider she would have appeared as a beautiful lady lost in her thoughts, but Shigure would have told the onlooker that actually his wife was up to no good. This was the calm before the storm for Madoka, and while looking at the young man totally absorbed in his book, she was just preparing a strategy and various plans of attack, just like any good general would have done before an important battle.

Oh, yes, Madoka Nishikado appeared as many things to many different people: a perfect wife, mother and grandmother; a higly educated lady, a sociable person, always up to date with the latest news in her circle of friends. And she was all those things, but there were aspect of her personality that she kept hidden from everyone except her husband. Shigure was the only one who knew about her stuborness, her perseverence - if people said that everything in her life was perfect, that was because she had worked countless hours planning every detail, taking care of things in order for them to be perfect - her possesiveness, her obsession of making sure her family was happy and sheltered from anything that could harm them. And she hid them not because she perceived these traits as faults, but because she knew they harsly contradicted the image people had of her. She was aware that some saw her as a frivolous old woman, proccupeid with gossip and a little detached from reality, but she didn´t care. The important people in her life knew the truth and that was enough for her.

Madoka smiled a little, eyes still fixed on the young man in the garden. She found herself in a bind. It had been a suspicion at first, but after confessing it to Shigure, after saying it out loud, it became too real for her to handle. It was possible that there was something between the Mimasaka young man and Takeshi´s lovely granddaughter, and that could prove to be an insurmontable obstacle. It could ruin their entire plan and Madoka could not stand the thought of failure. She would not bare to see Shigure´s disappointed look, his sadness and sorrow if they would have to abandon this dream of bringing the families together, especially since this was their last chance. This marriage between Yuki and Soujiroh had been entirely Takeshi and Shigure´s idea and she went along with the plan only because it made her husband happy. And his happiness was the most important thing in her life. It was true though that she also considered that her grandson needed to settle down. And if her husband wanted Yuki to be the person to whom Soujiroh should spend the rest of his life, she had nothing against it. From what she had seen that afternoon, Yuki was not only very pretty and polite but she seemed to have a cheerful attitude and an optimistic outlook.

Madoka knew that just because she was his grandmother that didn´t really gave her any right to control Soujiroh´s life, but she was sincerely worried about him. His lifestyle, the way he treated women, were not right. It seemed to Madoka that in each and every girl Soujiroh was searching for something, but he never had the patience to see if what he was looking for was actually there or not, since his relationships didn´t even last a few weeks. Oh, the young ones nowadays! They didn´t know how to appreciate thew slow blossoming of such an esquisite feeling as love! They´d rather believe in such things as love at first sight, a completely foolish notion in her opinion.

Mrs. Nishikado liked to consider herself as quite a good judge of characters and her belief was that she herself could not have picked a better wife for her dear Soujiroh. She could tell Yuki was different from the girls she usually met at social gatherings and there was certainly something special about her if she had succeeded in mantaining a friendship with such a playboy as Soujiroh. Maybe this young woman that came from a different background, that had different life experiences than the girls he usually met, would be the one in whom Soujiroh would find whatever he was looking for.

For how many minutes now has she been standing like that, looking through the window? Clearly, she was reticent about doing this, but if she wanted some answers, then she would have to do it. Besides, nothing could be worse than this uncertanty, not knowing where they stood. Her intuition told her that it was best if she didn´t approach Soujiroh, she couldn´t have explained her sudden curiosity about one of his friend´s personal life. Ah, the irony of life! She had blamed Akira on numerous occasions of corrupting her grandson and now so many things depended on the answers he would give her.

It was time, she couldn´t wait any longer. Slowly, confidently, she went across the room to the mirrror, she arranged a few strands of hair, and then, Madoka Nishikado exited the room, prepared for another battle. She walked calmly towards the garden, stopping from time to time to move some little object, to rearrange a bouquet of flowers or to admire the way in which the light of the sun changed the mood of the house. When she was finally outside, Akira was coming towards the mansion. They met halfway and Madoka was the first to speak:

"Akira-kun, how come you´re not resting like the rest of your friends?"

"Good-afternoon, Nishikado-san! I managed to rest my eyes for a while on the plane. I´m not really that tired."

"Really? How fortunate! Then you wouldn´t mind coming inside with me to have a cup of tea and some British biscuits, would you?"

"Not at all. But I thought you wanted to get out into the garden?"

"Yes, to get you. I saw you through the window and that´s how the idea came to me. I thought everyone was taking an afternoon nap."

They were soon in the living room but the conversation didn´t resume until after the tea was served.

"Mrs. Nishikado, I hope we´re not too much of an inconvenience, showing up like this, all of us." Akira began taking his cup of tea from the table.

"Nonsense. Soujiroh´s friends are more than welcome in our home. And I´m quite hopefull that with all of you here, my grandson won´t get bored too quickly and extend his stay with us."

"You are very kind, thank you!"

"Tell me, Akira-kun, I´m curious. Have you known Shigeru-chan for a long time?"

"For a few years, but none of us knew she was Rui´s girlfriend until today. It was...unexpected, to say the least."

"Oh, so the two of them played a trick on you. That is funny." Madoka replied, laughing a little. "This doesn´t change the fact that they make a charming couple though, does it?"

Akira just smiled, and Madoka continued:

"Just like you and Yuki-chan." She took a sip of her tea, keeping her eyes fixed on Akira´s face.

For his part, Akira choked on the biscuit he had been munching, so he was a little out of breath when he asked: "Excuse me?"

"Oh, there´s no need to hide it Akira-kun. I saw you two kiss earlier!"

The young man just stared at Madoka. Granted, Mrs. Nishikado was not exactly young anymore, but was she really that old to see things that didn´t happen? Or confound her imagination with reality? And then, all of a sudden he understood what she was talking about. He remembered arriving at the mansion, the way he had his arm around Yuki-chan when they first saw Mrs. Nishikado, how he whispered in the young girl´s ear. From where Soujiroh´s grandmother was standing it must have looked like they were kissing. He smiled, amused and intrigued at the same time by the lady´s interest in his personal life.

"I don´t know what you are talking about, Mrs. Nishikado, but I can assure you Yuki-chan and I are just friends."

"Are you certain?" If Madoka felt relief in hearing the news, it did not show on her face. She was calm and charming as ever, a benevolent smile glued to her face.

"Yes, there is absolutely no way she and I could get together."

"Why not? I´m sure all the girls would give their right arm for a chance to become your girlfriend, Akira-kun!"

"Well, that is true, but not Yuki-chan. She is too much in love with your grandson."

It was Madoka´s turn to be surprised and this time she could not hide it. The spoon with which she was stirring her tea, dropped with a sudden _click in the cup._ Now, now, things just got a little better and more interesting.

"She has been" continued Akira, noticing the change in her attitude and starting to understand where Mrs. Nishikado was trying get to "for some years now and Soujiroh is aware of that but chose not to do anything about it. He admitted to me once that she changed him profoundly, but I´m beginning to lose hope that they will ever be a couple."

"So," Madoka thought, "the young man in front of me knows more than I thought."

"Did you think they would, Akira-kun?" she asked out loud.

"More like I hoped. I know it may sound absurd, Mrs. Nishikado, but I really believe that there is no better girl for Soujiroh."

"She is a charming girl, isn´t she?"

"Yes, and intelligent and talented - she is studying interior design, did you know?"

"No, I had no idea." This was a lie, obviously, Takeshi was very proud of his granddaughter and kept his friends informed with the changes in her life whether they wanted to know or not. Both Madoka and Shigure knew quite a bit about Yuki.

She was beginning to like the Mimasaka heir more and more by the minute. It was obvious he could help them. She would just have to risk and tell him the whole truth.

"It seems to me, Akira-kun, that at the beginning of our discussion both of us knew halves of the same story. And since you shared your half, I´ll tell you the other and you´ll decide afterwards if you accept my proposition. What you all don´t know about Yuki-chan is that she is the only granddaughter of Takashimizu Takeshi, the coffee tycoon. Said coffee tycoon happens to be my husband´s childhood friend and they both have desired for some time now to unite their families. But since both of them had sons, that was impossible. And now..."

"Now you want Yuki and Soujiroh to get married in order to fulfill that wish."

"Very good, Mimasaka. You are a clever young man." She smiled, genuinely impressed.

"Thank you. I like to think so. I understand you already got Yuki to agree and that now all you have to do is convince Soujiroh. Yuki already told Makino, her best friend, quite out of the blue, that she is getting married. I suspect that is not a coincidence."

"Not exactly. Takeshi persuaded Yuki to accept an arranged marriage, but she doesn´t know it is to Soujiroh."

"The problem is, Mrs. Nishikado, that things are more complex than that. For the past year their relationship hasn´t been the best. In fact, they didn´t communicate at all. I´m afraid Yuki-chan is fed up with the way Soujiroh has ignored her feelings and broken her heart. Every time Soujiroh is with another woman, he inadvertedly hurts Yuki."

"So do you think we have no chance of succeeding?"

"Not necessarily. I happen to think that Yuki still loves him, bless her heart, and that maybe Soujiroh just needs a little push."

"So my question is: will you help us get them together?"

Akira didn´t answer right away. He was still surprised to discover that what seemed to be an innocent trip to Soujiroh´s grandparents, had in fact a true spiderweb of intrigues and complicated plans behind it. He knew that if he accepted and things went wrong he could lose two of his best friends. On the other hand, if things succeeded then he would have contributed to two of his friends´happiness. Hoping that he would never have to regret this, Akira answered:

"As much as I can, yes."

xxx

"...but Hisoka, why do I have to wear a kimono?"

"Well, little miss, your fiancé comes from a traditional Japanese family with a high respect for customs. It will be a sign of respect from you and master to welcome them in such a manner, considering tonight´s important event."

"Ah, I understand."

"So which one of them would little miss prefer?" asked Hisoka making a slight sign to the maids to come and help their young mistress.

Yuki took a look at the richly embroidered kimonos, she touched their silky material and attempted to choose one. Although it took quite a while to decide, Yuki finally spotted a light blue kimono with a floral pattern. It seemed so familiar, she had seen it before, that´s why it had caught her attention. At one of her gestures a maid took it and placed it neatly on the bed, pleased to see that their young miss finally chose one.

"Ah! Right! in grandma´s album!" Yuki suddenly exclaimed, remembering where she had seen it before. There was a picture with her grandmother wearing the same kimono.

"Hisoka, was this grandmother´s kimono?"

"Yes little miss. In fact, it is one of Mrs. Takashimizu´s favourite pieces. All of these belonged to her. And now they are yours miss Yuki. Such precious things!"

"Mine?" asked Yuki in all amazement.

"Yes. These are master´s orders, only little miss is entitled to wear them. Little miss is Mr. Takashimizu´s sole female descendant. It cannot be otherwise."

Yuki felt speechless, or better said, lost again in her own thoughts. The kimonos were indeed wonderful, old luxury items that were probably worth a fortune, she was honoured to receive such things. She was very pleased to wear them. It also brought back good memories, faint pieces of memories of her grandmother gracefully and proudly wearing this traditional costume. But where could she wear them? And then Hisoka´s words came once again into her mind. Her future fiancé came from a traditional Japanese family. She will have plenty of opportunities to wear them. And then a strange sensation was felt, like butterflies in her stomach. Not that she did not like old Japanese customs. It was nothing like that. But was she ready to enter such a family? And why did this thing make her think of Soujiroh? How could she think of him when she was about to meet the man that would become her fiancé?

"Oh, Soujiroh, get out of my head!" Yuki whispered.

"Little miss, did you say something?" asked the butler.

"No Hisoka, just babbling to myself." replied Yuki embarassed, her cheeks tomato red.

"If little miss does not need me I shall go aid master...I shall leave you to get ready now."

After that Yuki got dressed with the help of her maids who clearly knew what they were doing. It took a lot of mastery in putting on a kimono. Yuki was enchanted by this fine custom. She had to learn everything about this fine art and maybe with time she would be able to master this unique custom herself. She did not put on too much make-up. The accessories were carefully chosen as well an at the suggestion of one maid she just combed her hair and left it loose on her shoulders.

"There! You are ready young miss." said the older maid while taking a little silver hair clip from her pocket and pinning nicely two little strands of her mistress´s hair.

Yuki smiled at them and then observed herself in the mirror. Oh, how the butterflies in her stomach multiplied! Was she really ready? Yes, she was. She was fully dressed, hair combed, make-up perfect, all was in perfect harmony. But was she really ready to face this moment? "Yuki, calm down, everything will be fine!" Oh, who was she trying to kid? She couldn´t even stand still from her nerves. She´ll just go to Tsukushi. Yes, that was a good plan. So off she went to her friend´s room...knock on her door, two, three. Her friend wasn´t in her room. Great, what now? She rushed down the stairs and off the door she went. She could her mother´s protest, Tsukushi´s words, Akira´s questions out of her mind; and Soujiroh...Why was he in her thoughts? It seemed that her legs had lead her to the place she needed the most, in a couple of minutes she was at the family shrine. At least here she could get some peace of mind. Yuki lighted some incense and stood in front of the shrine in absolute silence.

"I hope I´m taking the right decision..."

xxx

Tsukushi came out of the steam filled bathroom, tightening the white towel around her small frame. She took the nicely folded one that she had placed on her bed before entering the bathroom and started drying her hair. Taking a glance at the watch on her nightstand, she realised that she had spent almost two hours in the luxurious bathroom.

"Wow! That must be a new record, even for me." Tsukushi mused to herself while starting to get dressed. But really, she couldn´t be blamed. Time just passes differently when you´re soaking in warm water, filled with bubbles and exotic bath salts. It relaxed her and allowed her to think clearly on the events of the day. And certaintly today had been the kind of day when a good bath was a must, she had a lot to think about. Not only her relationship with Tsukasa or the newly discovered one between Shigeru and Rui, but also the reason why she came here in the first place, Yuki.

She couldn´t pretend anymore, she had to admit it, at least to herself, that she had been thrilled when she had heard Tsukasa´s voice this afternoon. She had missed him so, from the moment she had left Tokyo! Tsukushi stopped buttoning up her shirt for a moment and looked at her reflection in the mirror hanging on the wall in front of her. Had she really thought that? She, Makino Tsukushi, the tough weed, missing her fiancé after only a day and a half of being separated? Had it really come to that? She smiled to herself and finished buttoning her pink shirt. "Then love is indeed grand and capable of curious things!"

Tsukushi had kind of suspected that Domyouji was bound to visit her while she was in Nikko, but Makino didn´t expect it to be so soon or for him to spend his whole summer there just because she was in Nikko. This trip had cancelled their plans together and, judging by how furious Tsukasa had been when she had told him about it, Makino had believed her fiancé would need some time to blow off some steam and calm down a bit before he would look for her. But she had been wrong this time, it seemed Tsukasa was now mature enough to put aside all small triffles in order to be with her, to comprehend that Yuki needed her and to accept that for Makino helping her friend was more important that a trip to Europe. Yes, love is indeed grand and capable of curious things.

But Domyouji´s arrival thrilled Tsukushi also because now she could stop feeling so bad about canceling their trip together. Although completely aware that they had a lifetime to take as many trips as they wanted, Makino couldn´t stop feeling guilty about ruining their plans. She knew how much effort Tsukasa had put into taking care of every single detail. But at the same time, she felt she couldn´t leave Yuki alone this summer. Not because she believed her incapable of taking care of herself, Tsukushi knew her friend was a strong and brave girl, but because she sensed somehow that after becoming a married woman they wouldn´t be able to spend so much time together. Their days of careless fun and hanging around together would be over. And also because it didn´t feel right to her to leave her best friend alone when she would probably have to make the most important decision of her life. So, with Tsukasa in Nikko, everything was settled for the best and her inner turmoil was over.

Now fully clothed, Tsukushi opened the French windows of her room and went to the balcony. There was a beautiful wooden rocking chair waiting for her and she moved it a little further into the right corner of the balcony so that she could see the driveway entrance better. "What luck! I can see whoever arrives right from my own balcony!" Tsukushi thought. There were no other guest expected except Yuki´s future fiancé and his grandparents so chances were that whoever arrived that evening was the mysterious man. And she would be the first one to see him! Makino was probably more curious about this man than Yuki was.

But as she started to slowly rock back and forth in her chair, her thoughts reverted to the events of the day. The other guys´presence had been like the icing on the cake for her, but she wondered if Yuki felt the same. She seemed determined to go through with this engagement, but now that Soujiroh was here, was she still that willing to fulfill her grandfather´s wish? Tsukushi was curious and worried about what effect will that playboy have on her friend this time: will Yuki refuse to get engaged to a stranger now that she had seen Soujiroh after such a long time, or on the contrary, will she be even more determined to do it just because she wanted to prove to him that she was over him? Both options were equally bad in Makino´s opinion and now more than ever she realised that this was not going to be pleasant, carefree holiday she thought and wished it to be. They hadn´t spent a holiday all together like this since that time Domyouji had lost his memory and they all went to the mountains. She just wanted them to have a good time, enjoying everyone´s presence, but chances were that was not going to happen with this possible conflict between her friend and Soujiroh.

Tsukushi sighed while playing with the engagement ring on her finger. "There´s no point in worrying. It doesn´t solve anything. I just have to support Yuki and counsel her as best as I can if she asks for advice." Great, now she was beginning to talk to herself! All of this was going to drive her insane. Thank God there were still good, pleasant surprises! Like the one Rui and Shigeru gave her when they announced their relationship. A pleasant but really hard to believe surprise. It was only normal she didn´t know how to react when she had first found out. Even now, just saying out loud: "Rui and Shigeru are in love." still left her speechless. Not that she had thought for one second that Rui really had an European affair with Shizuka, now a happily married woman. No, Rui was not capable of that, he was too profoundly moral to do such things. But never in a million years would she have guessed that the person whom Rui was seeing in Europe was Shigeru. From what she had observed in the short time spent with the couple in the afternoon, they were certainly in love and happy. And obviously serious about the relationship since it lasted for so long. Tsukushi wondered for an instant if the second wedding in their group would be Shigeru and Rui´s. She wouldn´t put it pass them to be presently hiding an engagement if they were capable of keeping their relationship a secret for almost three years.

Makino´s musings were suddenly interrupted by a burst of laughter coming from the direction of the front door of the mansion. "They´re here!" she said opening her eyes and standing up just in time to see Mr. Nishikado entering the mansion, followed by his wife holding Soujoroh´s arm. For a moment it seemed to her that her brain had stopped functioning. Soujiroh was the man whom Yuki had to marry? No, that was too much for her to comprehend! What was happening? After all, this was not a manga nor a drama. "What´s with all these coincidences?" she muttered to herself.

It suddenly became imperative that she find Yuki and warn her. Tsukushi left the balcony, ran across to the other side of the room and in an instant she was out in the corridor. She ran to its other end where she knew Yuki´s room was. Only after a few seconds of banging on the door and calling her friend´s name, Makino realised that Yuki was obviously not in it. She stopped the commotion and just stood defeated in front of the white door. She could faintly hear voices coming from somewhere on the ground floor. "No need to rush anymore." Tsukushi thought. In just a few minutes Yuki would discover for herself what she wanted to tell her. Now she was really beginning to worry. In an instant, all the fears that she had been trying to appease minutes before, resurfaced now stronger than ever. She just couldn´t stay in her room and wonder what was happening, she would go insane. The only solution that crossed her mind was to go and see the guys and Shigeru, tell them the news. She had no idea how to get to the Nishikado mansion but fortunately she knew just the person who could help her. And, as faith had it, she met said person while she was descending the stairs.

"Hisoka, I wonder if you could help me."

The buttler stopped a few steps bellow her and bowed politely.

"I will do my best, miss. How can I be of service?"

"I want to go to the Nishikado mansion but I do not know how to get there."

"Do not worry, miss. I will ask one of the chauffers to escort you. If you will follow me, please!"

They both descended and Tsukushi only had to wait in the parlour for a few minutes before the car meant to take her to her friends was parked in the front alley of the house. While she waited she sharpened her hearing, listening for any noises that could tell her what was happening with her friend, but the house was as silent as usual. "I hope you´re okay, Yuki!" Makino whispered before leaving the house.

xxx

While her friend was enjoying the relaxing swing of the rocking chair and the cool breeze of the evening, Yuki was spending a few minutes alone with her grandfather before the arrival of their guests. They were in Takeshi´s study on the ground floor, seated, each of them in one of those lush, leather armchairs that her grandfather loved so much and that made Yuki feel smaller and younger than ever. It was like she was twelve again, telling him stories about her friends, her brother and school. Actually, not much had changed. She had just finished talking about Tsukasa´s arrival and Makino´s reaction and Takeshi´s powerful laugh resonated in the spacious study.

"You know, grandfather, Tsukushi appeared to be upset but I belive she was actually happy to see him."

"I think so too, my dear. When you´re young and in love a day can seem like an eternity without your loved one. I´m certain that Tsukushi-chan missed the young Domyouji as much as he missed her."

"Were you the same when you were young?"

"Oh yes, even worse. I remember that once I spent a whole week without seeing your grandmother - we were not yet married then. So, one night I couldn´t stand it anymore. I sneaked out of the house, ran to Kinu´s place and woke her up just so that I could hear her voice."

"Oh, who knew you are the romantic type, grandfather!" teased Yuki, smilling and winking at him. She took another cookie from the tray placed it on the coffee table between their chairs, took a small bite and after finninshing chewing, she asked:

"What about grandmother? Was she happy to seee you?"

"Not at first, no. Actually, it´s a funny story. When I got there I tried waking her up by throwing small pebbles at her window. But your grandmother was a very deep sleeper. So I took another approach and changed the size of the pebble. I was a real fool! I threw a medium sized rock at he window which, of course, broke it. Luckily for me, her parents were not at home. Although Kinu´s speech was enough. She hated being waken up in the middle of the night and when she saw me, instead of the smiles and words of endearment I was expecting, I got insults and rage. "You complete fool" she said "what do you think you´re doing, waking people up in the middle of the night?" And when I explained that I did it because I couldn´t wait for the moment when I would see her again, she just responded: "You are a bigger fool than I thought! Don´t you know patience is a virtue?" And then she went back to sleep, but that had been enough for me." finished Takeshi, taking the last sip from his drink.

He had a small smile on his face and was looking somewhere above her head, but Yuki knew that he was not seeing the shelves full of books that adorned the four walls of the study. No, he had travelled back in time to that particular night and now in front of his eyes there was only Kinu´s face, a little puffy and dishivelled from sleep, yelling at him. It was not often that Takeshi spoke about his wife, maybe because it was still painfull to him to accept that she was gone and Yuki realised he did it now because he wanted to reassure her, to calm her down and to make her feel moreat ease. Or maybe it was just the effects of the kimono she was wearing.

"Grandfather, do you want another drink?"

She didn´t know what else to say but she felt she had to do something to thank him somehow. But maybe she should have chosen something else.

"I would like one very much, thank you dear!" he answered, extending his arm and giving her his empty glass.

Yuki took it, got up and headed to the bar placed at a small distance behind their armchairs, turning her back to her grandfather and the study´s door. A lot of decanters filled with different types of liquor were neatly placed on the mahogany bar and she was trying to decide from which one to pour another glass for her grandfather, when she thought she heard a muffled voice say:

"There´s no need for formalities, Hisoka, we´re old friends Takeshi and I, he won´t mind if we enter without being announced by you."

The voice was getting clearer as the person to whom it belonged to got closer to the study, and, when the door finally opened, a loud, powerful, masculine voice could be heard:

"Takeshi, my dear friend, we´re finally here!"

It was then that Yuki realised the guests had arrived. Feeling very nervous all of a sudden, she poured a glass of a randomly chosen liquor in a hurry. It was not polite of her to greet the guests with her back turned to them. If she wouldn´t have been so concentrated on not spilling the drink, maybe she would have realised that the voice was a familiar one and she wouldn´t have been so shocked to see the Nishikado family when she turned around. Mr. Nishikado and her grandfather were shaking hands warmly and Mrs. Nishikado was smiling while graciously taking off her gloves. Shigure was the first one to notice her:

"Yuki-chan, how wonderful to see you again! I trust you remember my wife" he said while gesturing to Madoka who now turned her gaze from Takeshi to her, " and I don´t think I need to introduce you to my grandson, Soujiroh."

There was indeed no need to signal Soujiroh´s presence. From the instant she became aware of the fact that he was there, she was unable to take her eyes off of him, standing there, next to his grandmother, calm and composed, invading her space and her life. Yuki noticed that everybody was waiting for her to reply, even Takeshi had moved so that he was now facing herm, and she managed a meak:

"How do you do?" before she was interrupted by Madoka who spared her talking some more - Yuki was unsure that she could keep her voice from trembling longer than it took to utter the previous four words - by saying:

"We know you two are already acquainted with each other and we know that you are friends. But now, Jiroh dear" she said as she was moving slightly so that she could take his left hand into hers and look at his somewhat confused countenance, "we would like to present you to your future wife, if you agree with our little plan, that is."


	8. Chapter 7

Hi guys! Just when you had given up on us, we decided to post another chapter. Better late than never, right? Please comment, we would like to know what you think about it. Enjoy!

Kriseis and Zaza

* * *

As soon as the car stopped in front of the Nishikado mansion, not even waiting for the butler to open the car´s door for her to get out, (disregarding the one crucial detail that Kaede kept repeating - a lady never opens the door herself) Tsukushi almost jumped out of the car dashing by the poor confused butler, climbed the few steps to the front door of the mansion and entered the house. She stood there for a few seconds, in the middle of the hall, feeling somewhat at a loss for what to do and trying to remember the route to the terrace where they had all spent the afternoon together. In her now feverish and confused mind, she was sure she would still find her friends there. Tsukushi hadn´t yet decided which way to go, when she felt her body take control over her mind, her legs starting to move as by themselves, making her turn left, pass through a grand, dimly lit living room and finally, after opening the French doors, reaching the terrace. Contrary to what she had expected, the terrace offered a desolate image: it lay covered in darkness and silence, abandoned by the group of people she was searching for.

Disappointed by this discovery, Tsukushi turned around, passed again through the living room, ignoring the butler that was waiting for her by the door, and returned once more in the hall. She just now noticed the row of three distinct doors that stood in front of her, on the other side of the hall. Running again she opened them all, each time getting yet another disappointment: the laundry room, the servants' room and the kitchen, all places where none of the F4 would set foot.

She was beginning to feel a little irritated. "Why do these people need such huge houses? The bigger the house, the bigger the ego, or what?" she thought while taking the fourth and final route offered to her by the hall, the stairs. When she reached the first floor she realized that she was going to need some help if she wanted to find her friends that evening, since all that she could see were more doors, corridors and stairs, like a huge maze in which she would surely get lost forever. Fortunately though help was not far away and it came in the form of the tall, emotionless butler that had followed her in her odyssey throughout the mansion.

"Is miss in need of anything?" he softly uttered while calmly climbing the stairs towards her.

Noticing him for the first time, Tsukushi eagerly responded:

"The guests! Where are the guests?" Her gestures betrayed her impatience: her hands seemed to fly through the air, almost like she was trying to take off, while she nervously tapped her right foot.

The butler seemed not to take notice of her rudeness or the insane spectacle she was offering. He kept his slow rhythm of climbing the stairs and only when he was standing next to a very frantic Tsukushi, did he spoke again:

"If you will follow me, miss…" while extending his right arm to indicate the corridor that they will be taking and leading, Tsukushi only a few steps behind him.

They stopped in front of a heavy, dark wooden door and Tsukushi could hear voices and laughter coming from the other side. This calmed her down a bit and before bursting in the room, she addressed the butler with an apologetic look on her face:

"I'll manage from here. Thank you so much!"

The servant remained silent but bowed politely before leaving her alone in front the door. After watching the butler's departing figure for a few seconds, Tsukushi took a deep breath, ready to share her shocking discovery with everybody. Forgetting the knocking part of the procedure, she opened the door and seeing all her friends gathered there, she blurted:

"Yuki and Soujiroh are getting engaged…"

XXX

Tsukasa had been playing a very entertaining game of pool with Akira, which, for the record, he was winning, when the door suddenly opened and a very disheveled, panting Makino came in. Any loving fiancé would have been immediately concerned before such an image and Tsukasa was no exception. He threw the cue away at once, almost hitting Akira in the process and rushed to Tsukushi´s side. He did not have the chance to ask what was wrong because he heard her say:

"Yuki and Soujiroh are getting engaged…Their grandparents want them to marry!"

On hearing the news, Tsukasa sighed, relieved that nothing was wrong with his beloved future wife.

"Oh, just that…" he said, felling his muscles relax, and then, message finally reaching his brain cells, yelled so that even the dead could hear him: "WHAT?!" What was Tsukushi saying? It must surely be a joke.

He looked at his companions, but they all seemed to be as amazed as he was. Shigeru, who till then had chatted and giggled happily with the three of them, eating truffles, went speechless for the first time that night, looking from Tsukushi to Rui, a little lost, as if begging for further explanations but not knowing whom to ask. Rui, who was seated next to her with the New Yorker magazine on his lap, appeared to be suspended in time, his glass of Chardonnay lifted halfway to his mouth, eyes on Tsukushi, probably waiting for more details. And Akira, half seated on the margin of the pool table, reclining on the cue in his hands…Akira, who did not seem to be bothered at all by the news.

Tsukasa turned again to Makino, who was serving herself from his glass of wine:

"Are you insane woman? Where did you take these foolish ideas from?" he questioned while taking back his glass and drinking what was left, if any.

"Tsukushi is right…" Akira´s calm, half amused voice could be heard. He had lost interest in the cue and now he was playing with some of the balls on the table, not really looking at any of his friends. He continued: "…well, half right anyway. They are not getting engaged tonight…" he finally lifted his eyes, a big grin spread on his face, resembling a mad Cheshire cat. He had been wondering how long it would take before this whole thing would blow off. His amusement only intensified when he saw all eyes pointed at him, his friends' killer looks.

"Akira, prepare to get your arse kicked!" yelled yet again Tsukasa. "How could you keep such crucial information from your brothers?"

"You knew already and you haven't told us anything?" Tsukushi was ready to kill him, daggers flying from her eyes, while she rolled the sleeves of her shirt and began to lightly jump on her tiptoes, preparing for an imminent attack, a true Domyouji bride. In other circumstances Akira would have made a joke about that explosive temper of theirs, but this was not one of those. He hurried to give an explanation before experiencing one of her punches.

"I've just found out today. Mrs. Nishikado told me about the arranged marriage a few hours ago." His words had the desired effect, both Tsukasa and Makino calming down a little and going to seat themselves on the sofa across then one on which Rui and Shigeru were seated. Seeing that he wasn't in danger anymore, Akira took his unfinished glass of wine from the pool table and joined the rest of his friends, throwing himself on a nearby armchair and nonchalantly adding: "And I think it is a splendid idea."

"Akira, have you lost your mind? How could an arranged marriage ever be a good idea?" screamed Tsukasa concentrating on the part of the news that troubled him the most.

"Does Soujiroh know about all of this?" a calmer F4 member asked, followed by the exclamation of his now ecstatic fiancée:

"Eeek! This trip is really full of surprises!"

Witnessing this scene and feeling a headache coming up soon, Tsukushi crossed her legs and started massaging her forehead. Yeah, maybe it was just the wine that she drank too fast. Had the world gone insane? She herself hadn't fully digested the shocking discovery, maybe it hadn't been such a good idea coming here and spreading the news.

"I don't know if Soujiroh is aware of this. I doubt it. What is sure though is the fact that Yuki had no idea that her fiancé is in fact none other than Soujiroh." Tsukushi replied to Rui's earlier question, the only sane words uttered until then in her opinion.

This time it was again Akira´s turn to intervene and clarify a little the situation: "No, Soujiroh, according to his grandmother, doesn't know either. Tonight is the decisive moment, for both Yuki and him."

"Is Yuki insane? Why would she accept an arranged marriage?" Tsukasa thought out loud.

"I don't like this situation either. Nothing good will come out of tonight's meeting." Tsukushi mumbled, echoing most of her friends' fears.

"Stop taking things so pessimistically! Tsukushi, would you have preferred to see Yuki marry a total stranger? And Tsukasa, don't compare your past experience with what's happening now between Yuki and Soujiroh. They are clearly different situations, with more implications than you can fathom. And it's not like they're forced into anything. Mrs. Nishikado told me that the final decision is entirely Yuki and Soujiroh's."

"That may be true, Akira" Rui finally spoke again, closing the magazine and putting it on the coffee table that separated the two sofas, "but we both know that there is more than one way to convince a person to do something. The pressure on Yuki and Soujiroh to obey their families' wishes will play an important role in this whole mess."

Akira opened his mouth slightly, prepared to say more. He was determined to convince his friends that "The Impossible Couple" could actually become possible. But he didn't have the chance to present all his arguments because help came from an unexpected person:

"You are totally right, Akira-kun" said Shigeru, the subject getting her interest. "An arranged marriage isn't always a bad thing. Of course, in mine and Tsukasa's case it would have been a terrible mistake, because his heart belonged to Tsukushi-chan. But it had its good parts too because that's how I met darling for the first time." She giggled, looking at Rui and nudging him a little. "What I want to say is that if Yuki still loves Soujiroh she couldn't have married someone else. Maybe this is fate's way to tell Yuki not to give up on her love. They are given another chance this way. It would have been awful for Yuki to marry another man and still love Soujiroh."

Rui looked proudly at his girlfriend. Even though a little idealistic, Shigeru's speech had its share of reason. Though he had to admit that hearing about her and Tsukasa's previous engagement hadn't felt too comfortable.

Shigeru's words had in fact managed to leave everyone silent for a while. What she said made Tsukushi reflect some more on the situation. Would she have preferred to see Yuki marry another guy, knowing that she would have done it just to please her grandfather? She knew Yuki still had feelings for Soujiroh; in fact, her disappointment with him was one of the reasons she was blindly entering into an arranged marriage. It was insane! Now this was getting really complicated… She looked at Tsukasa who hadn't said a word in a while now. He appeared to be lost in thoughts as well.

"There is a thing that is bothering me…" Tsukasa finally spoke, still a little too lost in his thoughts for his normal self. "Why would Nishikado's grandparents want to marry Soujiroh to Yuki?" And then, turning his head towards Tsukushi: "Don't take it the wrong way Makino, but Yuki is a commoner."

Tsukasa's question was making perfect sense. The Nishikados were known for their way of following the old customs. They would have never accepted a spouse for their heir if she hadn't had her roots in an old Japanese family with respect for tradition. They had very high standards and very harsh criteria. Then, why Yuki?

"Here's where you are mistaking, my dear Tsukasa." intervened yet again Akira seeing that Tsukushi found it difficult to answer the question and was struggling for words. "Yuki is not our common commoner. She's Takashimizu's granddaughter."

On hearing the news, Rui corrected his position, finally sitting himself properly on the couch and not slouching as he had for some time now and Shigeru put down on the table the truffle she had intended to eat. Surprise was clearly written on both their faces. The Takashimizus were a very powerful, influential family, known for their merciless way of doing business and they just couldn't connect Yuki's innocent and cheerful image with this family's reputation. Was it possible that she shared their genes?

"You lost me, Akira" replied Tsukasa with a bothered expression.

"You know, Takashimizu Takeshi, the coffee tycoon…" Shigeru began, trying to give Domyouji a clearer perspective o the situation.

"I know who Takashimizu is…" Tsukasa was getting impatient. This time he turned around his whole body so that he was facing Makino when he added: "Tsukushi, please explain! Akira's words don't make any sense. I thought Yuki's family name was Matsuoka…"

"That's her mother's maiden name. It's a long and complicated story and I know only half of it, but yes, Yuki is in fact a Takashimizu, more clearly Takashimizu Kazuo's daughter." she responded while also completing turning to face her fiancé.

They were now sitting face to face, only few centimeters separating them and the tension beginning to rise between them was felt by the others as well. Akira moved on the couch next to Shigeru and Rui so that he could have a better view of the show that will surely follow.

"That's something!" exclaimed Tsukasa. "I did not know Yuki was an illegitimate child. Who would have guessed that "Mr. Businessman of the Year" had actually walked on the wrong side of the lane and had an out of wedlock offspring! I wonder how he managed to keep that from the press!"

"What foolishness are you saying? Of course Yuki is legitimate!" an irritated Tsukushi replied.

"Well, how can she be legitimate when she's using her mother's maiden name?"

"She's using the Matsuoka name because her parents are divorced. She's as legitimate as her brother Shinichi is, only that he remained with their father while Yuki was taken by their mother…" yelled Tsukushi.

"If that is so, baka, then Yuki still has to use the name Takashimizu. It doesn't matter if the parents are divorced or not. I thought you went to law school all these years. Haven't you learnt things like that?" Tsukasa yelled back.

"Of course I know that. Who do you think I am? But that's not the point. What I wanted to say was that Yuki is in fact Takashimizu Kazuo's legitimate daughter. Ugh, Domyouji Tsukasa, sometimes you really succeed in making me lose my head…" she replied, getting her palms into small fists and stamping her feet.

The other three had been following the exchange of words between the couple as it if were a ping pong match, looking at Tsukushi as she spoke and then at Domyouji as he replied, and so on. Thus, now they were feeling slightly dizzy and it took a little while to gather their words and say something now that both their friends were silent. Akira was the quickest one:

"There, there, kids…" he intervened, getting up, going around the coffee table so that he was right in front of the "Trouble Couple", seating himself on the table and gently patting Tsukasa on the head and Makino on her left shoulder. "Why don't you kiss and make up? Calm down and let's get back on topic. If I'm not mistaken, we were all talking about why Soujiroh's grandparents have decided on this engagement…" he added, swiftly getting up and going to pour himself another glass of wine before any of the two had a chance to react.

Tsukushi and Tsukasa gave Akira a swift, threatening glance for interrupting their incontestably important discussion, but they both agreed that it was best to get back to the main subject. Tsukasa was curious to know more about this whole affair and Tsukushi had all the interest to clear things up, given the fact that she had been the one who had stirred the others' curiosity in the first place.

"From what I have learned from Yuki, this is one of her grandfather's dreams, to have her married to the grandson of his best friend and thus uniting their families." came Tsukushi´s simple explanation.

"Yes, this is what Mrs. Nishikado told me too." Confirmed Akira. "They are determined on getting those two together. In her opinion, it´s now or never. Mrs. Nishikado will not give up that easily, she really wants to make her husband´s dream come true…She´s a strong adversary if any of those two gets the idea of opposing the elders´plan."

"So…it's settled, right? They'll get married?" Shigeru's bubbly voice could be heard.

"Let's not jump to conclusions. Even if Yuki is willing to go through with it, I doubt Soujiroh will accept this."

"But darling, why would Soujiroh refuse to get married? From what I know he comes from a family with high regard for old customs. Do you think he'll go against his family's plans for him?"

"It's not that he's rebelling against his family's wishes, it's just that he may care too much about Yuki. After all, are we certain that this marriage is going to make her happy?" Even though his statement was meant as a reply to his girlfriend, Rui's gaze was unfocused, a sign that he had been more talking to himself that joining the conversation.

"So, what are you saying?" asked Tsukushi, lifting her head, intrigued. "That he refused to get into a relationship with her exactly because he loves her?"

"Well…" Rui stopped a while, trying to make sense of what he had said before. "I guess that's it…Sort of…I think…" Was that really what he had meant to say?

"Aww, how romantic! Sacrificing his own feelings for his loved one's sake!" interjected once again a romantic Shigeru.

"Let's not overdramatize this, Shigeru. These were just assumptions." was Tsukasa´s very realistic contribution to the discussion.

"But if Soujiroh does indeed love Yuki, wouldn't it be easier for them to be together and accept this marriage?" mumbled Shigeru to herself, ignoring Tsukasa's input.

"Well, we are not dealing with a normal type of guy." joked Akira, who overheard Shigeru. "You know it´s not easy to give up the wonderful life of a bachelor. You monogamous individuals will never understand us."

"You said it!" jumped Tsukushi, pointing her index finger to him. "How can you support this relationship knowing very well Soujiroh's true nature? He just isn't marriage material. He wasn't able to have a steady relationship all these years and nobody can guarantee he'll change now. God knows Yuki tried! Even she lost all faith!"

"Speaking of which, Tsukushi what happened at that damned graduation party? I left them to talk, but neither of them spoke about that night ever again. You all must have noticed that. From then on their relationship got colder to say the least. Until today, they never met. Not even once. Ever since Soujiroh got back from Europe neither of them spoke to each other."

Akira's words seemed to make Tsukushi forget about her disapproval of a possible relationship between Yuki and Soujiroh. She sat down again, a little pensative, knowing very well that all he had said was true and that there must be a reason for it.

"I do not know what happened that night. What I do know is that since then Yuki gave up fighting for him. She just lost her will to and her hope."

"Well, who can blame her? Intervened Tsukasa. "I could have kicked his arse if I had been her."

"You _did_ do that, remember?" the F4 plus Tsukushi reminded him in unison.

Feeling that his F4 leader image had been irremediably damaged, Tsukasa stood up and started to walk around the room. "Never mind that, it's not the point! Don't interrupt me, I'm not done yet. You never let me finish. What I wanted to say was that Soujiroh really cares about Yuki. He would never hurt her intentionally even though he screws up sometimes."

"Yes, he cares about her as a friend, Soujiroh said that himself. But from that to getting married…"

"Tsukushi, I care about Yuki as a friend too, but with Soujiroh it is much more than that. He once admitted that Yuki is the only girl who changed him and I really do believe that there's more to it than he lets us know. That's why I intend to help Mrs. Nishikado with their plans. Are you for or against it?"

None of them gave Akira an immediate answer because of the butler, the same tall, emotionless butler who had greeted Tsukushi first, who came in interrupting them and announcing dinner. They all agreed to think some more before deciding what to do.

XXX

In the other side of the town, the Takashimizu household was preparing for another important dinner. While the last preparations were carried out, in the master´s study, the Takashimizus and Nishikados were not exactly waiting patiently for dinner to be served.

It took Yuki a few minutes to realize that Soujiroh had in fact heard what his grandmother said, since nothing whatsoever changed in his countenance. He was still standing in front of her, motionless and silent, looking at her with blank eyes. She couldn´t help but stare at him. He was so handsome and elegant in his kimono, a combination of different dark shades of blue, looking like a valiant samurai. Yuki was so happy to see him again that for a moment she completely forgot the situation that brought them together that evening. All it took was a quick glance around the room to remember everything. For Yuki the discovery that he was the man her grandfather wished her to marry had been a true shock. Was it possible that Soujiroh was not in the least bit surprised? Or was he just better at masking his astonishment?

Mrs. Nishikado carried on:

"Both your grandfather" she stopped to give Soujiroh a meaningful look, "and Takeshi" she continued turning her gaze towards Yuki, "have wanted to unite our families for decades. But only now has this dream become possible. We do not wish to force you to do anything; it is entirely your decision. But we thought that you two should meet and this little trip seemed the perfect opportunity."

"These being said" intervened Takeshi, "we will leave you alone for a little while. Young people are always more at ease when there are no elders like us around, supervising them."

Looking at her grandfather, at the benevolent smile on his face, Yuki thought she was beginning to understand what her mother had meant when she had said that Takeshi didn't do anything without an ulterior motive.

"You are right as always Takeshi, my dear friend. So, you two," said Shigure pointing at Yuki and Soujiroh with a smirk on his face, "we will meet again at dinner time. Till then, play nice!"

And just like that the Nishikado couple and Takeshi got up and exited the room, though in fact they hadn't gone very far. If people thought that Madoka was a curious person, they hadn't met Shigure or Takeshi. Those two old men were even worse than Mrs. Nishikado. And together the three of them were unstoppable.

Under the same roof, on the same corridor, Hisoka was carrying a tray containing something for the guests to serve before dinner, his footsteps muffled by the thick, oriental carpeting. He came to a sudden stop when, in front of him appeared his master and the distinguished guests. All three of them were crouched, gathered in front of the door, ears glued to it. Hisoka had been a butler for many years, enough to know that his witnessing such a scene would prove to be a little embarrassing for his master and awkward for the both of them. He took a step back, ready to turn around and retire. But just at that moment Takeshi suddenly adverted his gaze in his direction. In the blink of an eye Takeshi was in an upright position, straightening his kimono with one hand and putting his index finger to his lips with the other, signaling to Hisoka to keep quiet. The butler understood perfectly what was required of him and bowed, smiling complicitly and then retiring. Takeshi got back to his position by the door, next to his friends who remained completely unaware of Hisoka's presence. It hadn't occurred at all to any of them how childishly they were behaving.

Just as it didn't occur to Yuki what to say in order to end the uncomfortable silence that had settled between her and Soujiroh since their grandparents left. He seemed calm and composed, but she could tell that in reality he was upset. She knew him well enough to be aware of that, but it was as if he didn't see her as if his mind was somewhere else. Without realizing, Soujiroh was clenching his jaws and lifting his left eyebrow from time to time, clear signs for Yuki that what would follow would not be a pleasant conversation about the weather.

"What a bizarre situation!" She finally managed.

"For me certainly … I don't know about you though." Soujiroh's voice was cold and harsh, something was definitely wrong.

She didn't get it at first, the hidden accusation of his words. Slowly it became clear to her though.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

She couldn't believe that he thought her capable of something like that, of using his and her family in order to get him. Did he really think she was so shrewd? After all these years, even if he did not love her she imagined that at least he would know her just as well as she knew him.

"Oh, come on Yuki, don't act like this was a surprise for you! You knew all along that it was me! Why else would you have agreed to marry a man your grandfather chose for you?"

"What!?" Yuki could not believe her ears. She knew Soujiroh had a very good opinion of himself, all of the F4 had, but this was too much, even for him. She continued, trying to keep calm, feeling anger risings inside her and replacing the surprise, joy and whatever she might have felt when she first saw him entering the study: "for your information, the only thing I knew and you didn't is that tonight I was going to meet the man my grandfather wished me to marry. I knew only what this dinner was about, not who this fiancé was. The world does not revolve around you!"

"Are you sure?" asked Soujiroh with a sly smile on his face. The big bad wolf must have looked like that when he first met Little Red Riding Hood. "Yours did, if I remember correctly, for more than four years!"

"And what a monumental mistake that was!"

That erased his confident smile from his face but Soujiroh chose to ignore her last remark, she couldn't be serious. And even if she was, he would tackle that subject later. "Till one day when you completely disappeared and I haven't heard anything from you for more than one year." he continued.

"Did you ever stop to wonder why? After the stunt you pulled at you graduation party, is it really any wonder that I was upset? … you know what? I don't want to have this conversation right now. Let's just sit here quietly until dinner time."

"Why not? Since we have nothing better to do and there are a lot of things I don't know, let's put everything out in the open. Starting with that bloody party of which I remember just bits and pieces."

"No wonder. You were so wasted it's a miracle you remember even those bits and pieces. You want to know? Fine, I'll tell you all about the party I've gone through a lot of trouble and worked so hard for. Me and your friends waited all night like fools for you and when you finally show up you're drunk and with a wh- …" she stopped just in time, remembering that she was a young lady, one that had to be in charge of her language. Yuki took a little pause, breathed in deeply, flipped her hair off her left shoulder, arranged her kimono and then continued taking a lady like position - straight back, hands on her lap - : "… woman on your arm. Do you have any idea how I felt? There was I, imagining the worst, that maybe you were hurt or injured or in need of help, when in fact you were having the time of your life."

The confession had been exhausting for Yuki. She sighed and got up from her chair, going to look at the landscape through the window.

On the other side of the door, it seemed that Takeshi too had heard enough, he only wanted to get away from there.

"Takeshi, where are you going?" whispered Mrs. Nishikado, noticing their friend was heading for the library.

"Away. It's enough."

Mrs. Nishikado looked at her husband, silently agreeing to follow him. Takeshi was right; this was not what they had in mind when they thought of bringing their granddaughter and grandson together. They too had had enough.

The same could not be said about Yuki and Soujiroh. In fact, they had only begun.

"You knew very well who and what I was before that party."

"Yes I did and I do." she responded, not turning back to look at him.

But Soujiroh didn't seem to hear her: "I never lied to you about my reputation or the way I treated women, I haven't kept anything hidden. I've been completely honest from the start. If you chose to create this idealized image of me and believe in it, it's your own fault. In fact are you even sure you're in love with me and not this perfect guy in your mind who just happens to look like me?"

This question didn't seem to infuriate Yuki as much as Soujiroh thought it might. Actually, it didn't infuriate her at all. That was because, though Soujiroh didn't know it, Yuki asked herself the same question on more than one occasion. Every time the answer had been the same: she loved the Soujiroh who had comforted her when her first boyfriend whose name she didn't even remember now treated her so badly, the Soujiroh who thought her that sometimes in order to feel better you just need some bitterness, the one who helped and encouraged her best friend through _The Teen of Japan_ contest, the one who as capable of trying to make Shigeru fall in love with him so that the Trouble Couple could get together again. There was no need for an idealized Soujiroh when he himself was such an amazing person if sometimes he did everything in his power to make you think just the contrary. But was he ever going to realize that? Sometimes she felt that he refused to acknowledge her feelings, to take them into consideration. What she felt was not just a teenage infatuation, it went deeper than that and she believed that years of devotion and abnegation of her own feelings in order to be his friend, proved that. But maybe it wasn't enough for him. Yuki feared that if she said more there would be no going back. She turned her head and looked at the antique clock on her grandfather's desk:

"Dinner should be ready by now. I'll go see what is taking Maurice so long." Her voice was just above a whisper.

"Oh, no, you don't." Soujiroh said, grabbing her by the wrist, while she passed by him. " You left me once without answers, you're not going to do it again."

Yuki stopped and pulled her arm out of his as if his touch burned her. Her face was flushed, her cheeks red with anger but her eyes were void of tears. This was not the Yuki he knew and she didn't sound like his Yuki when she said: "Do what Soujiroh? Wasn't it obvious that I was an annoyance for you? It became clear to me after the party and I think that was just your unconscious way to make me leave you alone. I did what you wanted me to do."

Through all of this Soujiroh kept his gaze lowered, his hands being the object of his fascination. The touch of her skin only lasted for a few seconds, but now he was inexplicably longing for it. He felt that it could be dangerous to take this argument any further. The feelings stirred in him by that simple touch only made him more conscious of what he wanted to keep hidden. From Yuki, his family, his friends, himself included.

"Leave the psychotherapy for another time Yuki. I had had a drink top many that's all. And since we're on that topic, I wanted to apologize. I'm truly sorry, Yuki. Please forgive me."

Yuki was never one to hold a grudge and staying mad at Soujiroh was even more difficult to her. She had been upset and mad at him for the entire past year and she had had enough of anger and bitterness. It was time to let all those negative emotions go. A new start was what her relationship with Soujiroh needed and if he was offering a sincere apology she could not deny him forgiveness. She could not deny him anything, truth be told. A small sad smile appeared on her face while she told him: "Your loss. It could have been a great party."

In another corner of the house, in the main library of the mansion Takeshi, Madoka and Shigure were still waiting for dinner to be announced. The atmosphere of the room couldn't be better suited for a library, for each of the three were lost in their own thoughts.

Madoka as the only one standing up, holding a glass of sherry with her left hand while she observed the multitude of photographs placed on the mantelpiece of the fireplace. Three generations of Takashimizus were cheerfully smiling at her: there was one of Kinu and Takeshi that had been taken not long after their marriage, a few of Kazuo as a baby, a teenager and then a fully grown man, some of Yuki and Shinichi when they were little. Her attention was drawn by a particular picture, one representing Kinu and her two grandchildren. Yuki was just a baby, peacefully sleeping in her grandmother's arms while Shinichi, all dressed up in a sailor's suit, cap included, was standing next to her chair.

Madoka picked it up, bringing it closer so that she could get a better look. If only Kinu were here! Only she could get Takeshi out of his brooding state. She turned around and smiled warmly at her husband. He too seemed preoccupied by the turn the events had taken. But Takeshi was another, entirely different, story. Could practically feel the dark aura surrounding him and threatening to engulf them all.

But something caught his attention. It was the same picture, the one that Madoka still held in her hand. He smiled slightly at seeing his beautiful wife's face but knew very well that there was nothing to smile about. He had suspected from the beginning that Kinu would have never approved of this foolish plan of theirs – if she were alive she probably would have smacked him over the back of his head and told him to grow up, you can't force people what you want them to – but he tried to escape this nagging feeling by thinking only about how happy the success of their plan would make him. After "accidentally" overhearing the young ones' discussion it seemed to him that the success would elope them. And what did he have left then? And more importantly, was Soujiroh the right man for his granddaughter? He was willing to ignore that boy's reputation, foolishly believing that his Yuki-can's loveliness and innocence would surely make him change his ways. And because...well, he remembered very well how it felt to be young and have the world at your feet. He just thought that his and Kinu's story would repeat itself.

Now he was uncertain if he should be so indulgent with the boy, even if he as Shigure's grandson. From what he had overheard, those two not only knew each other but Soujiroh had repeatedly hurt Yuki-chan. Takeshi took another sip of his wine and smiled bitterly at the irony of life. What were the chances that he would ant Yuki to marry exactly the man she had been in love with and who wanted nothing to do with her?

The wine the men were drinking was an exceptional one. A port wine from a good year, 1979, with a strong buquet and a pleasant sweeteness that charmed the senses. Neither Takeshi nor Shigure seemed to acknowledge this though. While Takeshi was still brooding, seated across from him, Shigure was also lost in thoughts. Like his friend, he was also questioning the fulfillment of their dream. When Madoka first told him what she had learned from the young Mimasaka he had been thrilled. He thought that since Yuki was in love with his grandson this would only mean that they would accept this plan more easily and the chances of it succeeding would increase, but after tonight… Guilt was tormenting him. He should have told Takeshi, shared all his information with him, warn him about the kind of history those two had. Maybe then his friend wouldn't have been so upset right now. He could find no excuses for Soujiroh since he didn't understand his behavior towards Yuki and he felt that if right now Takeshi would want to give up on their plan he would have no objections.

With the three thinking the same things but none of them expressing them out loud, the mood was dull and cheerless, when, after properly knocking Yuki entered the room. With a light attitude and a smile on her face she announced that dinner was ready to be served. Takeshi was dumbfounded. He had imagined that a bitter quarrel would break between Yuki and Soujiroh after they'd stopped eavesdropping, he had imagined his granddaughter crying and suffering. And now she was standing in front of him, calm and serene, not a trace of sadness on her face. What had happened between those two?

After all the emotions, anxieties and hopes, the dinner had been as normal as it could get. The conversation started out slowly, from the usual topics, such as the weather and the problems of travelling but by the half of it, Takeshi and Shigure were already telling stories of their eventful youths. The words marriage or engagement hadn't been uttered even once though, everybody purposely avoiding that particular topic.

XXX

By the time Tsukushi arrived at the Takashimizu residence, the guests were already leaving. She was stepping out of the car just as the Nishikado family was coming out of the house. Tsukushi bowed politely to the elders and took a good look at Soujiroh who just smiled back at her. This wasn't exactly what she had expected, this tranquility and normality. From the various scenarios she had imagined during the drive back home, this was the least possible. Had her two friends complied with the elders´ wishes so peacefully? She was still thinking about this as she climbed the stairs to the first floor of the mansion and reached her bedroom.

As she was about to open the door of her room she noticed that the French doors to the first floor terrace were open so she decided that the fresh air of the night would help her clear her mind. Thus she went on the terrace and while observing the dimly lit garden she caught eye of a figure slowly moving towards a bench. At first she thought her mind was playing tricks on her but as the figure was stepping more and more into the light of a garden lamp she realized that it was just Yuki. Instinctively she knew that irrespective of how things had turned out that night Yuki still needed a friend to talk to.

She went to her room, grabbed a shawl from her closet and went down to the garden. In getting there she still found her friend on the bench, starring aimlessly at the night sky. Tsukushi placed the shawl around Yuki´s shoulders and sat next to her.

"Aren't the stars beautiful tonight?" asked Yuki in a melancholic voice.

Tsukushi just smiled and nodded at her friend. But the stars were not the topic of the conversation she wanted to have with Yuki and her curiosity could not be repressed any longer. She got up and walked over to a rose bush, bending down to smell the beautiful flowers. Afterwards, she turned around and seeing that she had caught Yuki´s attention, finally asked what she wanted to know:

"…And how was dinner tonight?"

Yuki looked at her friend, smiling tenderly. From the tone in which she had asked the question, it became clear to her that Tsukushi knew everything. Aware of her friend's curious nature and wanting to change the topic as soon as possible, Yuki replied:

"Soujiroh and I have decided to be just friends…Because friendship is the most important thing, right Tsukushi?"

Even though she felt a great relief at hearing the news, Tsukushi realized that the brave smile on Yuki´s face was just a part of the role she was playing, a mask that she was wearing to hide her sadness. Makino didn't know what else to do but smile encouragingly and silently nodd at her friend. She went back to sit on the bench and cuddled beside Yuki, wrapping herself in the shawl also.

Even though it sounded crazy her friend was happier when she was pursuing Soujiroh. Now Yuki seemed to her to be broken and defeated, like all the plans she had made for herself were crumbling at her feet. It never ceased to amaze her how was it possible that Yuki was fuller of life when she had been bewitched by Soujiroh than now when she had finally released herself from his spell. Why couldn't she just let go? Was it true that the marriage would make Yuki happy? Could it be that Akira was right?

XXX

Not long after Tsukushi's departure, Shigeru excused herself as well and retreated to her room. She was beat. The first thing she did when she entered the cozy guest room was to lay on the bed and rest her head on a soft, silky pillow, pushing with one of her hands the magazine opened at the article suggestively entitled _Now that the Mystery Is Over, Will Your Relationship_ _Last?_ out of the bed. The long trip had finally taken its toll.

Truth was she had given up resting in the afternoon in favor of some extra moments with her darling. Their relationship hadn't been a conventional one. Despite Rui's often visits to Europe, the miles that set them apart every time he had to return to Japan were always a source of frustration for Shigeru. She missed him so much when he wasn't there by her side! She needed the appeasing influence he had on her, his calm nature and carefree style. Now that she had come to Japan as well she wanted to make the most of every moment that she had with him. Distance was no longer a problem because she no longer needed to return to Europe. She was here to stay and she would never leave her darling's side again. Thinking about this she started giggling and hugging the pillow while rolling from one side to the other of the bed.

"Ah, it´s so nice to have the one you love by your side!" she thought when she finally had to stop moving before she got dizzy. Being by Rui's side again was not the only reason for her excitement. This day had been a really full one. Ever since she set foot on Nipon land she hadn't had a second of boredom: meeting again the F4 gang, Tsukushi, Yuki, getting to know Soujiroh's grandparents, her and Rui's little afternoon escapade and on top of that the surprising news of Soujiroh and Yuki's marriage.

This marriage seemed to be the topic of the evening and Shigeru could not fully comprehend why everybody was so bothered about it. While she didn't approve of relatives choosing a spouse for a young man or woman, she thought Akira had a point and his intentions were good. Yuki and Soujiroh's relationship had lasted for so long and, though friendship between men and women, without any romantic development, was certainly possible and it existed, her feminine intuition told her that the relationship those two had was more than that. Somewhere along the way, without them realizing, especially Soujiroh, it had started to change, to transform itself. What was wrong with a little push in the right direction? We all need an epiphany from time to time.

XXX

In one of the rooms across the hall from Shigeru's, Tsukasa's to be more precise, the boys were having a typical F4 reunion but without Soujiroh. Calling it a reunion would be a stretch though since both Akira and Rui had barged in Tsukasa's room while he, in his royal blue silk pajamas was making an effort to look over some company papers. He didn't want to be caught off guard in case it would cross Kaede's mind to call and reproach him about leaving the company matters on her shoulders for a whole summer. So he was just analyzing a report sent by his faithful assistant, innocently minding his own business when first Akira and then Rui and his violin suddenly invated his territory.

The mastermind behind all this was in fact Akira, because Rui had also been interrupted while he was practicing a new piece on his violin and had been dragged to Tsukasa's room for reasons unknown to him. He still didn't see the point of this little gathering since Tsukasa was not paying any attention whatsoever to either him or Akira. Rui had retired into a corner of the room and continued to softly play the tune and Akira was continually making short trips to the window while looking dejectedly from Rui to Tsukasa to the window again. All this commotion had its effects though: Akira's incessant moving was not allowing Rui to concentrate and in change he would skip notes and would have to start all over again. And both of them were driving Tsukasa insane.

"Useless! It's useless to try and get some work done with both of you on my head!" he finally broke, putting his papers away and closing his laptop.

"Yes, I cannot finish the song either. Akira, what's so important outside? Just leave the window alone. And why did you dragged me over here?"

"Isn't it obvious that we need to talk?" Akira innocently asked. Looking at them he wondered sometimes about his friends' inability to sense a crisis when it was happening.

"But haven't we talked enough before dinner? And we still haven't reached a conclusion and personally, I haven't made up my mind to help you yet." Rui stated.

"This matter is more complex than it appears at first sight. We can't make a hasty decision. In one way or the other what's going to happen affects us all." In saying this Tsukasa was mostly reffering to Yuki and Tsukushi's friendship and both Rui and Akira understood that.

In the now quiet house, it was easy for the three of them to hear the approaching footsteps on the corridor. Suspecting it might be Soujiroh returning from the controversial dinner, Akira turned his back on the window, walked over to the other side of the room and slightly opened the door, just enough to stick his head out on the corridor and spy on whomever would arrive. But in the F4 group, curiosity spread faster than a highly contagious disease so it wasn't long till Tsukasa got up from his bed too and joined his friend by the door, Rui knew that more self control would be expected from him in such a situation but the truth was that the temptation was too great. So that after the last member of the party joined them, the F3 had formed a small pyramid of heads in the semi opened door, starting with Akira and finishing with Rui's.

Their expectations were confirmed. There were Soujiroh's footsteps the ones they had heard. He was walking slowly and, when he came closer, they could see he appeared tired and worn out. But he still had enough energy left to notice his friends and amuse himself at the image they were presenting.

"Hi guys! Hasn't the Sandman caught up with you yet?" asked Soujiroh in his usual casual tone.

"Are you kidding? At this hour … is the perfect time for a night cap. Care to join us?" replied the party starter of the group.

Soujiroh seemed to think about this proposal for an instant while placing his right hand on the doorknob and slightly opening the door of his room before finally declining Akira's offer:

"Maybe some other time. I'm beat tonight Akira. 'Night boys!"

And just like that he got into his room and closed the door behind him. Dejected that they were not going to get more details about the precious night, the three young men also got back to Tsukasa's room and resumed their previous positions. Domiouji on the couch in front of his laptop, Rui sat on a chair next to the window and Akira just jumped onto the bed.

"Well obviously nothing important happened or Soujiroh would have told us, right?" Tsukasa stated looking at his friends as if asking for their approval.

"I don't know. He looked kind of down to me." Akira observed.

"Maybe, or it could as well be that he hasn't made a decision yet." Said Rui in Reply to Tsukasa's first statement.

Surprised Akira turned his head towards Rui: "Are you still sticking to your idea that staying away from Yuki is his way of showing his affection for her?"

"I don't know but from the moment the idea came, it seemed pretty plausible to me. Don't you think so Akira? You're the one who knows Soujiroh best."

"Could be … I'm not certain. All I know is that Soujiroh is not indifferent to Yuki."

"Even so, what are we doing here guys? Why are we meddling in his private affairs?"

Rui's words had the power to make Tsukasa look up from the screen of his laptop and animated all of a sudden interjected:

"We're not meddling, we're helping. Just like you guys did with my relationship with Makino."

"Helping, as in you're willing to get involved in Mrs. Nishikado's plan?"

"Hell yeah! If Soujiroh needs help it's our duty to intervene. Right Rui?" Tsukasa said while getting to Rui's chair and slapping him over the back. "You're with us aren't you?"

"Are you sure you want to do this Tsukasa? Tsukushi didn't seem too keen on the plan this evening …"

"Of course I'm certain! I'm the Domyouji heir I don't fear any woman. Makino or no Makino!"


	9. Chapter 8

Oh hello again from Kriseis and Zaza. We know we haven't updated in oh let's see more then a year I guess but we did not forget about this fic that is so dear to us. In fact we talked about it almost every time we got the chance.

No matter what, we will finish this fic we promise. It's just that updates will come slower.

Anyway enough babbling. Here is chapter 8. We do hope you will enjoy redaing it as much as we enjoyed creating it.

* * *

_Friendship is certainly the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love_ - **Jane Austen**

Long after midnight the lights in Yuki's room were still turned on. Even though the events and eclectic mixture of emotions of the previous day had worn her out, she couldn't sleep. While the rest of the house was lost in dreams, she way lying on her pink canopy bed, looking at the kimono she had worn that evening.

Yuki was beyond confused, lost was more like it. She did not know what would have been better: to marry a stranger or to not have to agree with Soujiroh about being just friends. Strange as it may sound, her grandfather's plan actually sounded very appealing to her. It was after all a possibility just as good as any other of meeting someone new. The idea of having a new man in her life, one that was not Soujiroh, was oddly tantalizing. She needed that, someone to free her from this obsession. And Yuki had in fact believed that this time she had truly given up Soujiroh. But, as it happened every other time she had tried to distance herself from him, chance found a way to reunite them. She was beginning to wonder if there will ever be another man for her beside him.

Suddenly the room was filled with the sound of church bells. For a second Yuki thought she had gone bonkers. She had not got to the marriage part yet. Why was she hearing church bells? ...Oh, yes! Her phone! She had just received a text message. If she could only find her phone! Yuki got up and started searching: it was not under the bed or anywhere under the bathroom. She could check them off the list, she wasn't that messy. But it wasn't either on the nightstand or the desk. Where could it be? She remembered playing with it earlier so it had to be somewhere near her. Getting back in bed she started searching between the pillows, the covers, even between the sheets. Ah, success! One of her stuffed toys was hiding it from her, obviously, since the tiny object was under the puppy's paw.

The message was from Soujiroh and it read: _This is not fair! You only have Makino to tell to and she already knows while I have to put up with three noisy friends. Plus one's fiancée. You better be here in the morning and help explain things to the guys. _ She was used to Soujiroh's strange habit of sending messages or calling in the middle of the night, but this seemed too much. After all, it was four o'clock in the morning! How come he wasn't tired or sleeping after the kind of day they had? Instead he appeared to be in a joking mood, so she decided to play along. Smiling, she wrote: _You are mistaking Mr. Nishikado, it seems equitable to me. We both know that Tsukushi is worse than you three musketeers. _Let's see you now, Soujiroh!

She had hardly finished sending the message when her mobile started making noise again. Soujiroh's reply was: _Even so she knows because she saw us leaving your house. You better be here tomorrow or I'm coming to get you myself. _She leaned her head against one of the stuffed toys, giggling while still looking at Soujiroh's message. _Oh, Soujiroh, you poor thing, you're repeating yourself! You're starting to resemble Tsukasa. _she thought, amused. Should she just tease him a little bit longer or send an affirmative answer and calm him down? Hmm…was she so wicked as to torment him at this ungodly hour? No, the little giddy devil inside her head was once again defeated by the goody-good caring angel. An in a minute or two Yuki was already sending him a message promising that she will be by his side the following day. There by his side…anyone who would have read this would have assumed it to be a love note. But then again it could be a friend's promise as well. What better than a friend in time of need? She will be a good friend, she will show everybody that her former feelings for Soujiroh were gone and that she was quite capable of regarding him as just one of the boys. Right after she would convince herself of that. And it occurred to her that for a girl who supposedly was over Soujiroh she was spending a large amount of time thinking about him and imagining how things would have been if they had actually been forced to marry.

Yuki got up from her bed, went to the mirror stand and took a good look at herself, putting on a brave face as if trying to summon the courage she was not sure she had. It was too late to try and sleep now and it was useless to go back in bed. She would toss and turn in vain. Going to her desk instead of her bed, she took her sketchbook and began working on her first project as an official interior designer. In her last year of college she had gotten in touch with the senior partner of a small, independent architecture firm. Miss Akiyama had been so impressed with Yuki's talent that she had offered the younger woman a job as an apprentice in the firm. And when said firm had been employed by an expending company to project and design their new office building Yuki had been put in charge of creating a set of sketches to present to the client.

She was proud of her first job, it showed that she was not a child anymore but an independent young woman. And also that she should quit behaving as a child and stop dreaming that Prince Charming will come and take her away on a white horse. Or, in her case, on a motorcycle.

Sketching the contours of what was to become a conference room, Yuki soon found relief from the day's problems. Drawing always had a soothing effect on her. What better than to immerse herself into a world of her own creation and escape the thoughts afflicting her? It should not be long till the Sandman will decide to pay her a visit. Ending up asleep at her desk had become a habit of hers. Many were the nights in which her mother would softly wake her up and guide her to the comfort of the bed. But, still, sleep kept avoiding her and concentrating on her project did not do the trick either, her mind kept slipping to the day's events. Instead of a conference room she found herself sketching the contours of a face which, with every pencil line revealed to her familiar features. Realizing what she was doing, she stopped and looked at her drawing for a few seconds:

"Oh, not you again!"

Irritated by her subconscious' betrayal she tore the page and threw the remains in the trash bin. Feeling slightly better, she returned to her desk.

"I'll just work a little more and then I'll go to sleep."

Tomorrow was a big day after all. Not only she had to face her friends and explain to them the whole arranged engagement affair but she also knew that a talk with her grandfather about his and Mr. Nishikado's plans for her and Soujiroh was imminent too. How was she to explain to her grandfather that she had changed her mind, that she did not want to get married anymore? And what were her reasons? She changed her mind because the man she was supposed to marry was not a total stranger but Soujiroh, the guy she had been in love with for at least four years?

And that's when it hit her, making her drop the pencil. Yuki remained suspended in awe. Had she been about to marry a stranger? Would she had been able to go through with this plan if things hadn't turned out the way they did? Now that she was able to see things clearly, all this situation had been a mad one. There she was, decided to marry somebody other than Soujiroh and it turned out that the mysterious fiancé was none other that him. Talk about fate playing sick games with people.

And Soujiroh seemed to share her opinion: "_This is ridiculous! Who would have thought that_ _this would happen to the two of us?_" he had said while they were waiting for Hisoka to come and announce dinner was ready. And he was right. Not in their wildest dreams could they have foreseen such a turn of events. Partly it was her fault for never revealing that she was a part of the Takashimizu family. But would that have changed anything?

There was a time when she thought that the reason for which Soujiroh kept rejecting her was the fact that his parents would have never allowed him to marry a commoner. But of course that was just an illusion of hers. Soujiroh saw her as a friend and nothing more and that night's events proved exactly that. Even if she belonged to his class, even if their families had decided on their union, this marriage still could not take place. That's why when Soujiroh suggested to keep their friendship and find a way to delicately reject their grandparents' plan, Yuki accepted it serenely. She did not want to marry Soujiroh if he did not love her. She feared that if they would have ended up married this way, Soujiroh would come to hate her, destroying thus the frail bond that they renewed.

XXX

Breakfast time had come and gone and Shigure had yet to join his wife and guests. Lying in bed, still dressed in hi favorite silk pajamas, he could faintly hear their voices and laughter. Placed on the bed, beside him, was a tray with plates containing a lavish breakfast, enough food for at least two people, courtesy of his loving wife. But the food was untouched. He was holding on his legs the morning's paper and the stem of the pipe in his right hand was resting exactly on the last line of the article he had read before giving up. After going over the same line three times and still not understanding a single word of it, it became painfully clear that he was not really interested in the morning news. So that now the paper also, like the food and the pipe, lay forgotten while Shigure was lost in thoughts.

He had been unusually silent and pensative since the previous evening and contrary to popular beliefs, a night's sleep had not cleared his mind. After all he had heard the night before, slowly but certainly, doubts about this plan of theirs started to creep into his mind. He should have known better than to try and control the lives of others, he should have had learned from the mistakes of his parents. And perhaps all the obstacles they had encountered along the way in trying to unite their families, the overly complicated relationship between Yuki and Soujiroh being just the drop that filled the glass was fate's way of reminding him of a lesson long learned.

Shigure had, from the beginning, felt guilty about hiding the fact that Soujiroh and Yuki already knew each other from Takeshi, but in his defense he could only add that he had truly believed that the kids' friendship will only facilitate the accomplishment of their plan and that not even for a second had he suspected the true nature of their relationship.

Less than an hour of muffled words and hidden accusations between his grandson and Yuki last night had been enough to stir painful thoughts that Shigure could not ignore. He loved his family but for some time now he had begun to think that maybe he had failed in his duty as the patriarch to keep them together and assure their happiness. Shouichiroh, his oldest grandson, must have been truly miserable, discontented, feeling trapped and suffocated by their old ways and customs perhaps if he felt the need to run away from them and refuse their financial aid ever since and it pained Shigure to think not only that he had not done anything to prevent this tragedy, but also that he hadn't even suspected it.

And then there was Soujiroh…If he was unhappy or fed up with them all, he was not showing it. He had not ran away yet and certainly that must be a good sign. The only evidence of his rebellion against the family seemed to be his innumerable escapades but Shigure could not hold that against his grandson since he himself had not been very different in his youth. And it was from this idea that his main concerns about their plan derived.

Shigure knew very well and from his own experience that an imposed engagement or even marriage could not stop his grandson from seducing other women, from having affairs and Yuki-chan deserved much better than a cheating fiancé and then a cheating husband. Yuki-chan…Takeshi's precious granddaughter…Shigure had met her for the first time that previous day but he felt as if he had known her all her life. Takeshi would incessantly talk about her, even more so after Kazuo and Kagura's divorce when he got to see her less and Shigure knew all about her talent at drawing, the parrot pet that died when she was eleven and how she cried all night after it, about her adoration for her brother Shinichi, her excellent grades at school or the presents she would give to her grandfather or her visits to Nikko. Yesterday's meetings had only been opportunities for Shigure to convince himself that all those stories had been more than just Takeshi's boastings. Every word had been true and Yuki-chan was all that Shigure had imagined and more. And she did deserve better than a womanizer for a fiancé.

And then there was his and Takeshi's friendship to consider. Shigure loved Soujiroh but he was not willing to risk such an old friendship. If they pushed this marriage and his grandson would end up hurting Yuki-chan, Takeshi would not forgive him and Mr. Nishikado did not want to reach a point where he would have to choose between his love for his family and loyalty to his oldest and dearest friend.

The news Madoka had brought him after her conversation with the young Mimasaka had been encouraging – the possibility of Soujiroh actually being in love with Yuki thrilled him. But was it enough? And if it was true that they had not spoken for more than a year, what could assure him that Yuki still felt the same for his grandson? Her feelings could have easily changed if she had been hurt by Soujiroh as many times as Mimasaka had told Madoka.

With all these thoughts going on in his head, was it any surprise at all that he could not enjoy the morning paper or the breakfast?

XXX

Yuki had no idea when she had dozed off last night, all she knew was that she woke up still on the chair in front of her desk, a blanket around her shoulders that had been placed there either by Tsukushi or one of the maids. With a stiff neck and an aching back because of the uncomfortable position in which she had slept, she descended to the terrace where her grandfather and Tsukushi were having breakfast. It seemed that they had already planned out their afternoon: they were all going to pay a visit to the Nishikado family ant their guests. Tsukasa had called early in the morning, too early, Tsukushi informed, to invite both of them to a pool party. Her grandfather was to accompany them because there was some business to discuss with the elders of the house. All was settled, there was not nothing to comment upon, she was the late comer and she had no saying in their plans. After breakfast the girls went up to their respective rooms and got ready for another eventful day, Yuki more than Tsukushi for she had to be mentally prepared to meet and explain the whole state of affairs to her obviously curious, nosy friends: "Dearly beloved, we have gathered here to celebrate the friendship renewal between Soujiroh and me and to inform you that no engagement will ever happen between the two of us." Oh yes, she would have to come up with a good speech and strong reasons against a possible marriage to Soujiroh.

Of course that, after this mess, she would be the only one seen as a hypocrite. Who would believe that her feelings for Soujiroh had changed from day to night and that now she only saw him as a dear friend? Even if they had been kind of avoiding each other. Nobody will buy it…She was getting cold feet. Did she really have to go to this pool party No, this was ridiculous. What had happened to last night's strong, independent woman? If she decided on something it was bound to happen and she will prove to her friends that she does indeed mean it.

XXX

When Shigure finally left the bedroom, everybody had already finished eating breakfast and they had scattered around the mansion. The young ones were now sitting by the pool, enjoying the beautiful summer sun and he knew that Madoka was probably supervising the preparation of the lunch or instructing the gardener about the flower arrangements or something of that sort. It wasn't necessary for her to do things like that, but she liked to, even more so since they were having guests and perfection was imperative. So Shigure did not join his grandson and his friends and left his wife to run the household without the burden of his presence. Instead he went to his favorite room of his newly acquired mansion or any of the houses they possessed: the music room.

What only members of the family and closest friends knew and the others did not even suspect, was that Nishikado Shigure was a very talented pianist. His mother had been an ardent admirer of music and had strongly insisted that her son studied a musical instrument. She chose the piano for him - the best suited instrument for an educated young man according to her opinion – and thus he started learning how to play under the guidance of the best teachers money could buy, from the tender age of seven.

At first he did not like it at all. In fact he hated it and he resented his mother for forcing him to sacrifice his few hours o freedom of the day. Why should he stay indoors, learning scales, notes and keys when the other boys, including Takeshi, were out, playing and having fun? He used to run out of the house or hide when it was time for the lesson to start, and more than once her mother herself went in search for him and had dragged him personally into the music room.

Gradually though he began to enjoy playing the piano, especially since it seemed that his mother's intuition about his hidden potential had been correct. Shigure was a young prodigy, blessed with a perfect pitch and a sense of music beyond average. He learnt to love the clear, resonant sounds he could produce, the image of his fingers flying over the keys, he learnt lo love music. And what he liked most was to see his mother's proud face and his father's small smile of satisfaction every time his teacher, their friends, their guest would hear him play and shower him with praises.

By the time his hormones kicked in, he had already discovered the other perks of being a virtuoso of the piano. It was enough to casually mention at some point in the conversation that he played the piano and the young ladies would swoon over him. They never asked to hear him play or even or even about his favorite piece. It was enough to give them this little piece of information and they would immediately conjure up the image of a tormented Byronic hero for him, which he never bothered to deny.

From all the girls he had known, Madoka was the only one genuinely interested in his passion for music. She would slowly creep into the room while he played, seat herself on a chair or even on the floor sometimes, close her eyes and listen to him play with a beatific look on her face. The first time he noticed her listening to him, everything changed.

She always kept in mind his love for music and made sure every one of the houses they ever lived in had a suitable music room. This was no different. It was a large, scarcely furnished room. In the centre there was a grand piano, perfectly tuned of course. All the other pieces of furniture consisted of chairs, armchairs and multicolored pillows scattered on the floor so that the sounds produced by the musical instrument could resonate better in the almost empty room. Usually light flooded in through the impressive windows, but today the yellow blinds had been drawn half down to keep out the sun and they threw down a strange, shadowy apricot light.

He seated himself at the piano, opened the lid and tried to play but his fingers felt stiff and shaky. At first he could manage nothing better than a few exercises but soon he started playing _The Well Tempered Clavier_. He was concentrated on the task at hand but no so completely immersed that he couldn't hear the door open and someone entering. And he knew, without looking, exactly who it was.

"I knew you would come. I was expecting you." He said slowly closing the lid and turning around on the little piano stool, facing the tired countenance of his dear friend.

Takeshi was already sitting on one of the lush chairs, legs crossed, his left palm resting on his knees, while the right one clutched the silver top of his cane. A bittersweet smile appeared on his face before replying:

"You know me too well, I'm afraid, my dear friend. Therefore, I think you also know the reason for my visit, what I wish to talk to you about."

Mr. Nishikado did not answer right away, he just nodded, carefully avoiding Takeshi's gaze. Silence began to increase between the two like water rises and none of them seemed willing or capable of uttering the next sentence. This was a sad day for them, one they had hoped would never come and now were both reluctant to say the words that would end it all, just in case there was still the faintest change that this situation could be avoided. Finally, after what it felt like decades of silence, Shigure was the first one to speak:

"I do and it has also troubled me ever since last night. I realize now that we would be making a mistake in trying to marry Yuki-chan to Soujiroh."

"You know I like your grandson Shigure, the boy has potential. But he has also been hurting my Yuki-chan and I can't expect her to marry such a man, for much as I treasure our friendship."

It was at that exact moment, after his friend finished speaking and tilted his head backwards a little, touching the upholstery of the chair and closing his eyes as if exhausted, at that precise moment Shigure realized that nothing could be done anymore, that the bond holding together

their families would end with them. After their death there would be nothing left to remind people of their great friendship. He inhaled deeply before replying:

"Nor do I expect you to. I am sorry, old friend, for not telling you in advance that our grandchildren were already acquainted with each other. In my defense I can only say that I honestly thought they were friends. It seem not even I knew the whole truth."

"It's quite alright, I'm sure you only meant well", replied Takeshi, eyes still closed.

But Shigure could not let the matter drop, not until he had confided to his friend everything that troubled him. He told Takeshi about his fears that if they tried to force upon their grandchildren they would only damage their friendship, about how Mimasaka-kun still firmly believed that Yuki-chan had changed Soujiroh, about how he himself had hoped the girl will perform some sort of miracle and that Soujiroh would fall head over heals for her.

Takeshi waited for his friend to finish, smiling bitterly from time to time before reminding Shigure that they had already agreed to let the kids decide. And Takeshi was certain, after the previous night's events, not only that Soujiroh would not wish to get married, but also that they, in the course of the day, will surely come and tell them so. And, as often happens when one speaks of the devil, said devil or devils, were already knocking softly at the door. They came in and expressed their wish to talk to Shigure and Takeshi who, turning towards their grandchildren, braced themselves, expecting the worst.

XXX

Until the girls' arrival, Soujiroh had been dozing off on a chaise-longue, dark glasses shading his eyes, while still pretending to listen to his friends' conversation. But as soon as he saw Yuki walking on the grass field toward them, he swiftly jumped up from his place, grabbed the girl's hand, dragging her into the house.

"Well, hello to you too…" she said, smile on her face, as soon as she had the chance to catch her breath.

"You are late. What took you so long to come?" inquired Soujiroh while opening the door to the study and gesturing to Yuki to get in.

"Oh my goodness, you really are starting to sound like Tsukasa, aren't you?" giggled Yuki.

There were few occasions in which one could see Soujiroh loose his cool, casual composure. But who wouldn't be driven out of his mind with four, no, five friends whispering behind his back, gesturing secret codes to one another, complotting God knew what. It was clear that Tsukushi had spilled the beans as soon as she had found out about this engagement business. It was imperative to clarify the situation to their friends as soon as possible, before things got really out of hand. And the same could be said about their grandparents.

"I will take that as a compliment. Who wouldn't like to be compared to our fearless leader?" he responded, winking mischievously.

"Yes, well just don't turn into Tsukasa. I don not think the world could take two Domyouji."

Putting the little jokes aside, they both agreed that is was time to give an answer to the elders. After a long planning on how to bring the news without hurting their feelings too much, they proceeded to the music room.

The one that did most of the talking had been Soujiroh, but contrary to their expectations, both Takeshi and Shigure had accepted their grandchildren's decision without any protests. The disappointment was clear on their faces though, and Yuki felt the need to add that she and Soujiroh would carry on the friendship that has united their families for such a long time.

All that was left now for the two was to confront their friends. Laughter was heard from the other side of the doors. This was it: the moment for which Yuki had prepared all morning was finally here. Standing in front of the glass door that separated the living room from the garden where lunch was supposed to be served, Yuki's head was filled with worries. How will they react? Will they believe her? Does she believe herself when she says she is not in love with Soujiroh anymore? Will they think her a hypocrite? All her fears came flooding back. And what about having kept from them the fact that she is a Takashimizu?

Truth was she had never given this so much attention because she was used to the life her mother had created for her. She had never thought about herself as one of the Takashimizu heirs, not even now did she feel like one. So nobody could accuse her of deliberately keeping this a secret from her friends, right? Soujiroh didn't seem bothered by this revelation either.

Maybe Soujiroh had the gift of reading her mind or maybe it was the fact that she remained frozen in front of the door, because the next thing she knew was that he took her hand in his and gave her one of his most charming smiles, as if saying _Come, there's nothing to be afraid of_.

On returning to the pool area, Yuki and Soujiroh found their friends getting ready for lunch. The butler, along with three maids were busy making the last preparations around the table which had been set in the shade of an old oak tree.

"So, the lively pigeons finally decided to honor us with their presence" mocked Akira coming towards the two of them and passing each of them a cocktail.

"Thanks Akira. And what are we celebrating? asked Yuki trying to ignore Akira's comments.

"Being together…again" giggled Shigeru.

"We thought you were going to miss lunch. Domyouji was about to send the butler for you."

"Well, we couldn't start lunch without our host, could we Makino?" Tsukasa retorted.

Rui, the only member absent from the picture until that moment, came from inside the house and while putting his right arm around Shigeru's waist and taking his glass of wine with the left one, uttered another few words of wisdom:

"Good, now that we're finally all here, we might as well make a toast. To friendship!"

"To friendship!" answered the others lifting their glasses.

As they were heading for the table, the word friendship still echoed in Yuki's mind. Soujiroh must have sensed something, for he took her hand once more and gave her an encouraging smile:

"Actually, since we're all here, this is a good opportunity for Yuki and I to talk to you about something" Soujiroh said, letting go of her hand, pulling a chair for her and taking a seat at the table as well.

Upon hearing this, Tsukushi raised her eyes from the napkin she was placing on her lap, and focused her attention on the couple in front of her. The others, as intrigued as she was, had perked up also.

"Yes" agreed Yuki, lifting her eyes to Soujiroh and then turning to the others: "You must all know by now about the arranged engagement between Soujiroh and me. But it will be better if you hear the facts of the story directly from us."

"It will be best in order to clear things out…Because you must also know what is our position in this" continued Soujiroh, putting an arm around Yuki's shoulders.

The others were all eyes and ears, waiting for this long introduction to be over and for them to get to the main point. They had already found out from Tsukushi that the couple in front of them had decided to reject their grandparents' plan and to remain just friends. But what they were witnessing at the moment did not really fit in with what Yuki and Soujiroh were saying. Tender gestures, warm smiles, the glances they gave each other or the way in which Soujiroh wrapped his arm protectively around Yuki's shoulders and not to mention the fact that they appeared holding hands, all those were the gestures of a loving couple.

_Could it be that maybe they changed their minds and are about to give us the shock of our lives? _mused Akira, watching his friends.

Thus, when the "loving couple" stated "We decided to just be friends", their words dropped like bombs on their friends' heads. All were left speechless, mouths slightly open.

_Are they blind? _Akira was thinking while, by now even Tsukushi could not ignore the incongruities between their decision and their public display of affection.

"It is the best…" explained Yuki casually pouring Soujiroh some lemonade.

"An arranged marriage between us would have endangered our friendship which has already suffered some damage last year."

"Neither Yuki nor I wish to let that situation happen again."

_No kidding…_Tsukasa was about to reply to Soujiroh's statement, but he just nodded in comprehension and then gave Tsukushi a _are they some kind of crazy people _look.

"Our friendship is more important than anything right now" finished Yuki, giving Soujiroh another tender smile.

After a small period of silence in which everybody returned to the matter at hand, that is eating, because they had gathered for lunch after all, Tsukasa broke the ice and asked the question that had been bothering him for some time now:

"So Yuki why is it that your family name is Matsuoka and not Takashimizu?"

"Huh?" interjected Yuki with innocent eyes. She had been taken by surprise.

Tsukushi, irritated by her fiancé's impertinence, resumed to kick him in the left shin under the table. It became clear that this was not going to be a normal lunch no matter how much they tried. Things could never enter the sphere of normality when they were all together.

"Ouch, Makino why'd you did that for?"

"For sticking your nose in other people's business" was Tsukushi´s swift reply.

"Aren't we all doing that?" mused Rui. It was in their nature to interfere in each other's lives. Tsukasa's curiosity was just the tip of the iceberg in what concerned the whole Takashimizu/Nishikado affair.

"No, it's alright, I think I owe you all an explanation" answered Yuki. It was time to come clean about everything regarding her family. So she proceeded to tell them basically all she could remember about her childhood and her parents' divorce. Which was not much, since she had been very young at that time, but she could still recall her mother taking her away from the family mansion in one cold winter morning, saying good-bye to her brother with tears running down her cheeks. Her mother never explained why she gave her maiden name only to her daughter while Shinichi kept the name of Takashimizu. All Yuki knew was that a few days after they had moved out of the mansion, her mother told her that when she would be asked what her name was she should reply Matsuoka Yuki. And it was with than name that a year later she had been enrolled in school.

It was not long after Yuki finished explaining that the topic changed to childhood memories and the whole group joined in sharing at least one funny story, just to lighten the mood a little bit. By the time desert was served, the atmosphere was light and pleasant and Yuki thanked the heavens that things had gone so well. She could really enjoy this party after all.

XXX

Unknown to the young people enjoying the wonderful summer weather and a happy lunch with friends, was the fact that they were being observed by far by three pairs of very curious eyes.

After Yuki and Soujiroh had left the music room, Shigure started playing the piano again. Neither him nor Takeshi felt like talking. Even if they were expecting the answer, it only made it more real that their plain was not going to succeed. Understandably, they were both quite upset. After some time, they were joined by Madoka, who waited for the song to be finished before telling them:

"Come with me to the living room. I think you need to see this."

Both men complied and that it was why they were spying once again on their grandchildren and their friends through the glass door of the second floor living room.

"You are a pair of old fools… giving up so easily…when life gives you lemons, what do you do?" scolded Madoka with eyes glued to the young people in the garden.

"You put them in a place with much sunlight and hope they will become oranges?" replied Takeshi with a straight face

Madoka eyed him for a few seconds "No, you make lemonade, obviously."

"But I do not like lemonade." complained Shigure

"Could you two be serious for a few seconds. Look at them! Just look! So they said they want to be friends. Big deal! Why did you believe them so quickly? Because you had doubts that your plan was nothing more than delusion? Well, take a good look. Five more people believe the same thing and are willing to help you make it happen. Is that still a delusion?"

"More like a conspiracy" muttered Shigure.

"Say what you will, all I know is that Yuki has been and maybe still is in love with my grandson. And for better or for worse, she stuck by him in a way or another for all this time. I will not give up not when we're so close."

Shigure looked at his wife. She had a determined face and he had seen that look of certainty on her face before. So he made up his mind in a second: he was going to trust his wife, forget everything Soujiroh and Yuki had told them, and hope for the best.

One swift glance at his best friend and he knew he was not the only one thinking that and it made him feel better.

Now all they needed was a really good plan.


	10. Chapter 9

_Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it_. ~Russel Baker

**Chapter 9**

This was ridiculous! He had come to Nikko with half a dozen frinds, and yet right now he wa all alone, bored like hell with nothing else to do but roam around the house like a damn ghost. Where ha they all gone? The mansion was as empty as one of thoe house from a cheap science fiction movies in which all the residents habeen abducted by aliens. From time to time he could hear the discrete footsteps of oneof the servants or the gardener's rattle. He knewfor a fact that his grandparents were at the club, but where were his friends? It had become a habbit for Rui andShigeru to vanish into thin had already a conquest and he hadn't yet gotten bored with it. And Tsukasa...most certainly with Tsukushi somewhere.

He could go to the club, follow Akira's example, find some entertainment. There were somepretty girls around Nikko as well. But he already imagined the scornful look he would get from his grandmother if he dared. No, it was not the time nor the place to amuse himself with local beauties. It would be like rubbing it in his grandparents' faces that theu did not succeed in setting up a marriage to Yuki. At least in his grandparents' presence he should restain himself.

But still, this hot summer day, this clamness, this lazyness in the air, was too much for him.

He felt like he could die of boredoom. Maybe he could go for a swimm, chill aut for a little while, till someone would decide to show up. And he would have plunged directly into the pool, taking a deep and refreshing dive if he had not notice the French doors that were connecting the pool aerea to the salon, open, the draperies dancing softly in the rhythm of a lukewarm breeze. A humming sound was heard from inside and upon lookin through the semitransparent material of the curtains, he could distinguish a slender figure sitting on the floor in the midle of the room, surrounded by patches of white.

Intrigued, Soujiroh decided to postpone his dive and with steady, silent footsteps, he walked confidently into the salon. He had been so concentrated on trying to identify the figure in front of his eyes, that he did not notice hen he stepped on one of the white patches. The short rustled sound alerted him to the fact that the white spots were in reality sheets of paper. And after bending a picking one up, he found that the papers were sketches of the very room they were residing in.

But not even the sound of his footsteps or the rustle of paper seemed to disrupt the drawing. Crounched over a clipboard that was laying on her lap, straight, brown hair falling like a silky drapery that was hidding her face and humming a soft tune,Yuki kept draing, oblivious of Soujiroh's presence. Taking a place next to her on the floor, he just watched, fascinated, how the charcoal pencil in her hand left traces of black on the whiteness of the paper.

„I think this one is the best" he found himself speaking while extending his right arm, holding one of the sketches aut to her.

Startled, Yuki lifted her eyes from the drawing, flipping her long hair over her shoulders.

„Soujiroh….I haven't heard you coming. I have the bad habbit of turning the volume of my iPod up while I'm drawing „ she said while taking off hear headphones. And then looking at eh sketch offered by Soujiroh, proud smile on her face, she added:

„Doesn't it give you a feeling of harmony? It's incredible how such little details can create such an astonishing effect. That's what I love about traditional celebrations. They have the power of bringing back magic into the real world. „

Soujiroh gave her an affirmative „Aha…" followed by a smile that also left to be understood that he totally agreed with what she said. It was like dicovering a new side of Yuki's personality. All these years he knew her and he had never seen her so radiating as she was right now, so immersed into something as she had been a few minutes ago. How was it that he had missed such an important detail about her? How come he had discovered it only now? Was it because every time they had met in the past the focus was more on him than on her? He never remembered talking so much about her passions or about her dreams. Soujiroh knew she studied to become an interior designer but until now he had seen it like a mere career path that Yuki wanted to undertake.

After making the finishing touches to the last sketch, Yuki started gathering her pencils and papers. A deep silence had fallen once again in the vast chamber. She felt Soujiroh's intense gaze directed upon her, lost in his own thoughts:

"Penny for your thoughts?" asked Yuki smiling.

"I don't know if my thoughts are worth a penny anymore. I am so bored I can't even think."

"If you're bored, why don't you come help my with my errands. At least, it would get you out of the house."

"What kind of errands?" asked Soujiroh.

"I need to go into town and order the decorations for the party. Nothing out of the ordinary. Think of it as a shopping trip." She explained, but she was almost certain that Soujiro would refuse the invitation. Shopping wasn't his hobby.

"Okay. Just wait for me till I go and change and then we can get going."

He was already getting up and heading to the exit of the salon that let to the staircase. Yuki just gave an affirmative nod, somehow taken by surprise by his answer.

XXX

Before turning over yet another page of the book he had been reading for almost two hours now, Akira took a quick glance at the clock on the wall. Almost three o'clock. That meant that he still had a little more than half an hour before meeting Mrs. Kanzaki. Who was Mrs. Kanzaki I hear you asking? Well, she is not very important to the story, in fact this is the only chapter in which she gets mentioned so don't bother much about her. But just in case there are persons out there interested in minor, episodic characters, here are the most notable facts about her.

Mrs. Kanzaki was one of the most beautiful women in Nikko, with big, manga-like brown eyes, full lips, small waist, ample bosom and hips. In a nutshell, she was the typical trophy wife of one dwarf-like Mr. Kanzaki who, unfortunately, was more in love with exotic birds than his significant other which meant that he spent quite a great deal of his time traveling, from the Amazonian jungle to the deserts of Australia in search of the rarest species of birds. Which in turn meant that his lovely wife was left alone for a great deal of time and she, being a very rich woman with very little imagination, was bored most of the time. So that when she saw Akira that day in the restaurant, having lunch alone, she only saw a new possibility of entertainment. And since this is Akira we are speaking about, he pretty much saw the same thing in her, and he was not at all surprised when she invited herself to his table and then accompanied him to a hotel room.

That was more than a week ago and Mimasaka had already gotten bored with Mrs. Kanzaki. Her expiration date was getting nearer and nearer. She was lovely and beautiful but the novelty and excitement of their affair was gone and so was his interest. Truth be told he was in no mood to meet with her today but the alternative was not very appealing either. He had been left alone in the mansion. The grandparents were gone God knew where and the love birds were spying on Yuki and Soujiroh who were out shopping. Till now their plan had not been particularly successful but he liked to think it was only a matter of time.

He began reading again although in all honesty he should have started getting ready for his date. He had no intention of being there on time; Mrs. Kanzaki could wait for all he cared. So he returned to his novel, _Slaughterhouse Five _by Kurt Vonnegut without a trace of remorse. He hadn't gotten very far down the new page when his mobile phone began ringing. A little irritated, he extended his right arm and took the annoying device from the nightstand while still holding the book with the left, eyes glued to the lines he was reading. Deciding not to answer unless it was really important, he looked first at whose name was displayed. But he only saw an unknown number so Akira flipped his phone open and uttered a "Hello?"

„Hello? Akira-kun? Ah, finally somebody who actually answers the phone!"

The voice was very familiar but he couldn't be certain he was not mistaken. Thus, still confused, he managed just one word: „Tsubaki?" before the voice on the other end of the line could be heard again.

„Yes, it's me. Oh, I'm so happy I could reach you! I tried calling Tsukasa but his phone's turned off. And so is Makino's. I'm at the airport. Could you come and pick me up?"

He didn't even have to think about what to say. His response was automatic: „Yes, of course, I'm on my way." He was already on his feet, grabbing his car keys and getting out of the bedroom. It seems that Mrs. Kanzaki will not be seeing Akira after all. And while our young hero is driving in that reckless way of his, let us concern ourselves with Mrs. Kanzaki, now that her five minutes of fame are almost over. She understood perfectly what role she played in Akira's life and the efemerity of it and took his absence from their meeting for what it was: a sure sign that their affair was over. But if for Akira women were interchangeable, so were men for Mrs. Kanzaki. Thus, instead of crying her eyes out and going through depressions and suicidal periods like most women did when they realised they had been dumped by THE Akira Mimasaka, she just continued her search for new, inventive ways of getting rid of her perpetual boredom, without giving Akira another single thought.

By now, Akira's already at the airport (What? I've told you he drives recklessly!), looking for Tsubaki amid the hundreds of people, berating himself for not asking her precise location. He had gone directly to the arrival gates but even so he was surrounded by a great number of people running all over the place or waiting for their loved ones which made it difficult to spot Tsukasa's sister. How was he supposed to find Tsubaki in this confusion? He had just taken his phone out from one of his trouser's pokets, intending to call her and ask for more details, when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

The first thing he noticed when he turned around and was facing Tsubaki was that she appeared to have shrinked since the last time he had seen her. If before she was always at least as tall as him, now he could actually see the top of her head since she only reached the height of his shoulders. A swift glance at her feet revealed the reason for this change in height: she was not wearing highheels but a pair of flip-flops. In fact Tsubaki's whole outfit was strangely uncharacteristic. She was wearing some loose fitting jeans and a simple T-shirt, her hair gathered in a pony-tail. Who was this person and what had she done to the Tsubaki he knew? The one always elegant and on heels, the one who drove fast cars and did not need to be picked up at the airports?

„I'm on vacation." she informed him as if reading his mind. „In case you were wondering what the Hell am I doing here." she continued while indicating her leather suitcase that was placed at her feet.

Akira took the hint and grabbed the suitcase and while they were headed for the exit, he said: „I wasn't wondering what you were doing here. Mrs. Nishikado already told us you would be staying at the mansion for a few days, but we were not expecting you till next week."

„I know, but I found out some very interesting ...news, shall we say and I've been convinced to come earlier. It has been a bother to find a flight. I've had to change three planes in order to get here. And when I finally do arrive I can't get hold of my brother, or his fianceé or two of his friends. I was so glad when you answered."

Akira finished putting the suitcase in the trunk of the car, opened the door for Tsubaki to get in and only after he was seated behind the stairing wheel, did he reply: „Tsukasa, Makino and Rui are on a mission...sort of, that's why they keep their phones turned off. I was at the mansion."

He started the car and got out of the parking lot. It didn't even occur to him to change his way of driving although you could see on the faces of most girls who had went for a drive with him that they were nauseaous by the time they had reached their destination. But this was Tsubaki, she was not most girls, she wouldn't mind. On the contrary, she seemed to quite enjoy it, that big smile of hers never leaving her face, not even when Akira accelerated at the last moment in order to catch a green light or when he took a curb without slowing down.

"So…what interesting news?" he inquired after they were already on the highway.

"A little bird told me that you are planning to get Soujiroh and Yuki together. Not only that, but that their grandparents wish for them to get married. Is it not true, Akira-kun?"

The young man kept his eyes on the traffic and did not answer right away. He had been considering if he should tell everything to Tsubaki ever since he had found out about her imminent arrival, but it seemed there was nothing to tell. She was obviously as informed as she would have been if she were present since the beginning of the whole affair. Why bother deny it then?

"It's true, your source is very accurate. How did you find out?"

"That's for me to know and for you to wonder, Akira-kun. You're not the only one who has secret ways of finding things out. But haven't you guys had enough with Makino and Tsukasa?"

"Well…no. Apparently we're in a matchmaking mood."

"Who's next, then? You, Akira-kun?"

He briefly looked at the woman seated next to him. Tsubaki was still smiling but it was hard to tell if she was joking or not. He guessed she was.

"What do you mean?" he finally asked, returning his gaze to the windscreen.

"Well, Makino and my brother will be married soon and so will be Nishikado-kun and Yuki if your plan is successful. And Rui is dating Shigeru. You're the only one left. What you're waiting for, Akira-kun?"

"I _was_ waiting for you to get divorced but I guess now there's nothing stopping me from tying the knot. "He joked, starting to laugh and Tsubaki seemed to think it was indeed a good one because she started laughing as well.

After a few minutes, when the laughter had subsided, she inquired:

"So…what's the big plan? What exactly are you doing to get the two of them together?"

"Till now we've figured the best solution was to make them spend as much time together as possible. They have a whole year to recuperate and the big idea was to make them comfortable with each other's presence."

"Just that?"

"Yes. Well, they're both charming, interesting people. They're bound to fall in love with each other if they spend enough time together. It should work, especially with Yuki. We're still thinking what to do with Soujiroh."

"I thought they were already in love."

"They are, it is just that Soujiroh is refusing to admit it. Ah…here we are…" he stated while carefully parking the car in front of the mansion. None of them made any attempts to get out of the car though. Instead, Tsubaki turned around a little and leaned more on the right side of her body so that she could see Akira better. He was still looking straight ahead.

"What is it, Akira-kun? What's bothering you?" she asked.

He was startled a little, as if awaken from a dream. He turned to look at her, serious expression on his face, he was not joking anymore when he asked:

"How do you know about the grandparents?"

"Of course I knew Soujiroh's grandparents, just like you do. And do not forget Akira-kun that I went to school with his brother, Shouichiroh."

"I wasn't asking about his grandparents, of course I knew you were acquainted with them. I was referring to Yuki's. You already know she's a Takashimizu, don't you? When did you find out? From whom? "

"Ahh…Akira-kun, you're making me tell all my secrets…fine, if you really must know – and may I add that curiosity killed the cat – before the F4 there was another group quite famous within Eitoku Academy, although we did not terrorize the school like the four of you did. It was me, Shouichiroh and Shinichi-kun, Yuki's brother."

"So you knew about her background from the start?"

"No, not even close. I knew of course that Shinichi-kun had a sister whom he loved tremendously, but he didn't like to talk much about his family. At the time when I met him he was already quite independent, quite estranged from his family. I think I met his father only twice in all the years of high school and never his mother or his sister. So that when Makino introduced me to her best friend I had no idea she was my friend's sister. I only found out accidentally last year when I visited him in Brazil – he lives in Rio de Janeiro nowadays – and I saw a picture of Yuki-chan on his desk."

„Why didn't you say anythig?"

„It was hardly my place to do so. I decided you were going to find out only when Yuki-chan would decide to tell you."

Akira nodded and smiled a little. Tsubaki was right of course. And if Makino didn't tell them anything, why would she?

„Anything else you know and you're not sharing?" he asked.

„Oh, lots of things but today's session of divulging secrets is over. For me it is at least. Now's your turn." She was smiling again, deviously so, Akira noticed.

„My turn?" he feign innocence.

„Yes, your turn. You tell me one of you're secrets."

„What if I don't have any?"

„I don't believe that, everybody has secrets and you're no different. So, c'mon, spill the beans!"

He was silent or a few moments, but Tsubaki was a patient woman. Finally, those words were uttered:

„ Do you remember that day you slapped me? You were the first girl I had ever kissed."

Of course she remembered that day, the whole summer in fact was forever imprinted in her memory. The last summer before her marriage...

When her mother had told her about the family's plans for her, she put up little resistance. Thinking about it now, she was utterly ashamed of how she had acted. But she was young and did not know the way things worked and her mother was the figure of absolute authorithy, she scared her. If she was not showing her emotions, inside she was dying with so much frustration and rage.

She had no real recolection about the kiss itself, what brought it on, the look on his face or the feeling of his arms around her or if his lips had been soft or not.

When she thought about that day, what she could vividly see and feel, was how she slapped him and how good it felt doing it. She had been so mad at her mother for deciding her fate, at her family for not helping her, at the whole world for not saving her, that slapping him was like hurting everybody, like standing up to everybody. Hiting Akira had been her first feeble attempt at rebelling. She had learned much later that only she could save herself.

After it happend thought, things changed. They became really good at avoiding each other. Not that it was very difficult to do so, with her getting married and leaving for the States. But now, thinking about it, this was the first time since that day that they were alone together.

She briefly wondered what he remembered about that day, but judging by the fact that he had said _the day you slapped me_ and not _the day we kissed_, it was pretty obvious.

What was she to reply to such a confession? It was thus only appropiate that Akira was still the one to speak:

„ How was that for a confession?"

He was still looking straight ahead but was smiling, so Tsubaki decided that it was okay to joke a little, even if the mood had become more serious:

„Good enough for a start, but I told much more than one secret. We're not even yet. I'm expecting a second part."

„Perhaps, but mine was much more personal, so I think we can call it even, don't you think so?"

What was it with this boy today? How come he had succeeded in leaving her speechless? Twice? In less than half an hour?

Akira smiled at her, took the keys out of the ignition, opened the door of the car from his side and was already with one leg out of the car when Tsubaki grabbed his left arm and said:

"Akira-kun, you should try closed spaces."

He turned around. "Huh?"

"Yes, for your plan. Think about it! It did wonders for Tsukushi and Tsukasa. The elevator, the cabana… " She had let go of his arm and he was free to get out of the car but not before smiling at Tsubaki and thanking her for the suggestion. Did that mean she was willing to help also?

While two servants were taking care of the suitcase and Akira was yet again opening the car's door for Tsubaki, holding it open with his right palm while giving the left to her to help her get out (which she accepted with a small "Thank you!"), Mrs. Nishikado appeared at the entrance.

"Tsubaki, my dear, welcome!" the old lady said while kissing Tsukasa's sister on both cheeks and giving her a hug. "We were not expecting you until next week."

"I know, but something came up and I decided to come earlier."

"My dear child you should have announced. Somebody would have been sent for you at the airport."

"I left in such a rush that I forgot, I'm afraid. And afterwards I had so much trouble with my flight that it totally slipped my mind. But everything turned out alright. Akira-kun didn't mind giving me a lift, did you?" Tsubaki asked turning, facing and winking at him.

"Of course not, it was entirely my pleasure" he replied.

"Yes, Mimasaka-kun is such a gentleman that I'm sure he didn't. But you must come at once to the study. My husband will be thrilled to see you and you must tell us all the news from New York." Mrs. Nishikado insisted before turning towards Akira and asking him if he will join them. He declined stating he had some business to attend to so the three of them parted ways in the corridor, with the ladies going left to the study and Akira climbing the stairs to his bedroom.

He was slightly annoyed with himself. Unlike Rui who just spoke whatever was on his mind, whoever cryptically it sounded out loud, and Tsukasa who just…spoke whatever, Akira was very careful with his words, even around his friends. So what brought that confession on, then? She was obviously joking and playing around and yet he had been very serious. Of all times he could have decided to be serious, he chose that one!

He rarely thought about that day – it was not pleasant after all for a Don Juan like him to remember that his first attempt at seducing a woman had been so totally disastrous – but today, seeing her again, spending some time with her alone, the memory of that sunny afternoon just popped into his mind. Today she smiled brighter than the sun and seemed genuinely happy, so different from back then…But then again she had been through a lot and she wasn't the same person anymore.

Before the news of her impending marriage was dropped on them like a bomb, he hadn't really paid attention to Tsukasa's sister. She was just that - his friend's sister, who loved to put her brother in place and was not afraid to use violence to do so. She was not a constant presence in their life, entire weeks could pass without seeing her, but when she was around, she was fun and got along well with all of them. She embarrassed Tsukasa, beat Akira and Soujiroh at Mahjong and chess and, amazingly Rui was not completely awkward around her. Well, most of the times he was not.

And then the marriage had been decided and all of a sudden the mood changed. Tsukasa became more violent and moody, taking out his rage and frustration anytime and on anyone. And Tsubaki…she became all quiet and emotionless.

It was around that time that Akira's perception of her changed. In his eyes she became a symbol of what the future held in store for all of them. He had hoped she would show some signs of rebellion, make some sort of attempt to break free, give them all hope that all was not yet decided and that they could still be in charge of their lives. But she did not. Never once did she raise her voice against her mother's decision, never did she try to sabotage the wedding plans.

Akira couldn't say he was surprised. For someone so young to stand up to someone so imposing and powerful as Tsukasa's mother was practically impossible. What bothered him was that Tsubaki seemed to become emotionless and he could not understand why. If he had been in her situation he would have made sure he enjoyed to the fullest his last days of freedom, but she just withdrew herself from the world. She would spend most days at home, alone. If they were there, she would not join them, he just could not get it: why waste the last few moments when she could have enjoyed herself?

When she met her that sunny Sunday afternoon, walking from the garden to the house, she gave him a small, feeble smile. He just stared for a few seconds, mind totally blank. Had he been thinking of kissing her? He could not remember, he was almost certain he had not. He was after all quite surprised on seeing his right arm extend and grab her neck, pulling her closer. And the next thing he knew, he was kissing her. It only lasted for a few seconds and he did not even have the time to experience surprise or acknowledge what had happened, what he had done, because her palm had already made painful contact with his left cheek. And looking at her after she had slapped him, he seemed to discover somewhere deep in her eyes the Tsubaki he had known and not the lifeless puppet her mother made her to be.

Watching her get married, it had become clear to him that one by one, they would all meet the same fate. It was just a matter of time. Love was not a luxury he could afford, no matter how rich and powerful and influential his family was. In that case, love would not be something he would desire, he was fully convinced people could live without it. But he would make damn sure that before he became one more victim of political alliances or family customs, he would have his share of fun.

The book waited for him where he had thrown it and this time turned his phone off before laying on the bed and continuing his reading. But there were many thoughts swarming in his mind that did not let him concentrate on the novel. He had known Tsubaki for half of his life but he had no idea she and Soujiroh's brother were such close friends. Did that mean she knew his whereabouts? Where those the news from New York Mrs. Nishikado was so anxious to hear? One thing was certain: Tsubaki was indeed a woman of many mysteries. And, on top if it all, there was this Shinichi guy, Yuki's brother to whom Tsubaki was obviously quite close to. If she had visited him last year that meant that she had done so shortly after the separation from her husband and Akira couldn't help but wonder if maybe this guy wasn't the reason for the divorce. Mrs. Kanzaki had completely slipped his mind.

XXX

Downstairs, in the study, Shigure had been thrilled indeed to see Tsubaki. He had hugged her warmly and after fixing her a drink and urging her to take a seat, he asked:

"How are things in New York? Is everyone okay?"

But Tsubaki knew what the couple in front of her really wanted to know. They were of course, interested in her welfare and had been worried about her, but for some time now, since she had moved to New York in fact, she had been their only source of news – any news – about their oldest grandson. It had been her the one who started this, first telling them she found him and that Shouichiroh was alright. Madoka had been so happy and moved by that simple phone conversation they had had, that soon it had become a sort of habit for Tsubaki to convey all sort of information: that he had started photographing and was quite good at it, that he received this and that award, that he started smoking and grew his hair. Sometimes it was something silly, like that he needed to replace his glasses because he had lost the first pair. And the second. And the third.

She was aware of the fact that she was in a way betraying her friend. If he chose to stop all communication with his family, maybe she should have done the same as Shinichi and respect that decision. (Come to think of it, what was the deal with her friends and their isolation from their respective families? Not that hers was perfect, but at least she was on speaking terms with everybody) But she just couldn't for the life of her understand what reasons could he have to punish those two sweet people. If her telling them not to worry, that their ingrate bastard of a grandson is okay, was such a big betrayal, she was willing to risk it. Sometimes she could just slap him. Maybe that would wake him up.

She decided to mention it first:

"I've spoke to Shouichiroh before leaving New York. He is alright, just very busy, preparing for his new exhibition."

"Really? Is he healthy? Eating well?" Madoka moved closer to the edge of her chair, anxiously waiting for the girl's reply.

But it was not Tsubaki's voice the one to be heard next. Shigure was the one to speak:

"Sweetheart, he's a 27 year old grown man. I think he knows when to eat or not by now."

"Yes, but he's always been so skinny. I just worry for him."

"He's still skinny as a stick. No wonder he cannot get a girlfriend. Of course, his personality does not help either."

There were a few moments of silence after Tsubaki's words, but soon Shigure started to laugh, nodding his approval and he was soon followed by the one uttering those words in the first place.

Only Madoka was still serious. And only she decided to defend him:

"It's just that most girls cannot properly appreciate his wonderful personality and sensibility."

But her words did not have the desired effect. The other two just started to laugh louder.

After a few moments, Tsubaki spoke again:

"He is well, does not even smoke that much anymore. Too busy, that is all. I've talked to him about Soujiroh's situation, but he refused to get involved."

"So you know?"

"Well, I think I was the second person Shinichi called after finding out. The first was Shouichiroh of course, who refused to help him stop this madness. So he decided to ask for my help. I suppose I should be the last person who would support an arranged marriage."

"So that's why you are here? To try and stop us?"

"I don't really know. From what I've understood from Mimasaka-kun, this seems to be a team effort. And so many persons cannot all be wrong, can they?"

XXX

The deal with books is that they are effective as means of entertainment only while one is concentrating on what one is reading. Otherwise they won't work. This was what Akira discovered after spending more than one hour trying to make sense of the same page of his novel while his thoughts kept slipping to other more interesting subjects. Frustrated he got up and went to enjoy the summer sun for a while on his bedroom's large balcony. It did not take long till he spotted the disheveled quartet approaching the mansion in a slow broken rhythm. They faintly resembled his best friends but could not fathom what in the world could reduce them to such a pitiful sight. Well, there was only one way to find out, he thought while heading once again to the exit.

11


End file.
